Maroon Calabash is a Black-led Reproductive Justice nonprofit in Milwaukee supporting pregnant and postpartum families - especially those impacted by incarceration, poverty, and systemic barriers to healthcare. We provide culturally-rooted doula care, perinatal education, mutual aid delivery of essential resources, and advocacy to ensure that families can thrive through pregnancy, birth, and in parenting.

The Data:

For the families we serve (recently postpartum, single-parents, parents returning from incarceration, medically complex families, or pregnant and newborn families facing financial hardship) this fund  directly strengthens maternal and infant health outcomes by removing financial stressors that interfere with prenatal care, postpartum recovery, infant feeding, and long-term well-being

Peer-reviewed research consistently demonstrates that food insecurity and financial strain during pregnancy and postpartum have serious impacts on maternal and infant health. A 2025 study of over 19,000 pregnant people published in JAMA Network Open found that those experiencing food insecurity faced significantly higher risks of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth, and newborn NICU admission, and higher rates of severe postpartum mood disorders (such as postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and even postpartum psychosis) compared to food-secure peers. Importantly, these risks were reduced when families received food assistance, showing that timely intervention can protect maternal and infant outcomes. Other studies confirm that food insecurity and financial stress reduce breastfeeding rates and shorten breastfeeding duration, undermining both infant nutrition and maternal recovery.

It is clear that food insecurity is not only a nutrition issue, it is a reproductive and public health crisis. Financial strain and access challenges during pregnancy directly increase the risk of medical complications, mental health challenges, and poor infant outcomes. Impacts that can be long lasting and passed down through epigenetic inheritance in a multitude of ways. Access to stable nutrition and financial support is a proven protective factor for healthier births, stronger postpartum recovery, and long-term family well-being.

Why This Matters:

Risks and complications arise for local families due to the ever-rising cost of living, job shortages, and the slashing of public assistance programs -  contributing to limited access to resources that help families make ends meet. Families are having to make impossible decisions in an already scarce climate that make the hard work of pregnancy, postpartum healing, and parenting that much more challenging and stressful. Our fund is working on growing the collaborative and grassroots work of strengthening infrastructure for emergency response resources that bridge these gaps in times when social programs and resources are depleted due to overwhelming community need and dwindling federal and statewide funding. We are supporting pregnant and postpartum families in vulnerable positions during this crucial phase of life and healing - offering a level of insulation that protects their health and wellness from the fluctuating pressures that put them at risk for complications and adverse health outcomes.

Our Response:

Maroon Calabash is activating our Milwaukee Birthing Access Fund to bridge this crisis through:

• Direct Aid and Food Access ($15,000): Emergency grocery cards, culturally relevant food boxes or prepared meals, diapers, formula, and household essentials for local families.
  
  
• Birthworker/Doula and Midwifery Supplemental Support ($10,000): Emergency stipends to sustain perinatal and postpartum care when families cannot pay/continue needed care due to financial hardship.
  
  
• Operational Capacity ($5,000): Temporary staffing and distribution costs to manage, store, and offer door-to-door rapid aid delivery for families in need of resource delivery services. Families will not need to come to us, resources and support will be delivered directly to them.
  
  

Funds are being deployed immediately and on a rolling basis through our existing mutual-aid infrastructure in collaboration with our partners and our network of certified birthworkers/doulas and midwives.

Our Goals:

• 125+ families maintain stable food and nutrition access during benefit interruption.
  
  
• 2 local Certified Homebirth Midwives and 6 community doulas supported to continue care for pregnant and postpartum people facing financial hardship.
  
  
• Improved maternal and infant well-being during crisis, reducing risk of health complications tied to food insecurity, challenges accessing prenatal and postpartum care, and stress.
  
• Strengthened community infrastructure for future emergency response.

Visualizing Your Donation:

• $60: for a full tank of gas or a UBER/LYFT gift card to help folks get to/from doctors appointments, school drop off and pickup, the grocery store, etc.
• $150: grocery gift card for a small family emergency shop (this will feed a small family for about 1-2 weeks)
• $350: groceries, formula and essentials to stabilize a pregnant or postpartum family (this will feed a medium sized family for 1-2 weeks)
• $2,000: supports a pregnant person access prenatal and postpartum doula support or scholarship towards homebirth midwifery care 

Please consider making a one time or monthly recurring donation to support local families move beyond survival. Together we are supporting family’s continued access to doula care and midwifery services while bridging the gap that keeps families afloat during instability, giving them room to breathe, regroup, and step into the next chapter of their lives with strength rather than scarcity!