Organizational History

 

OUR BEGINNINGS

In 1993, our Executive Director  Cordelia Hanna along with two midwives, founded Wholistic Midwifery School of Southern California (WMSSC) as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit community charity in Los Angeles. The aim was to provide an alternative to the lengthy apprenticeships for student midwives to become California Licensed Midwives and Certified Professional Midwives, as licensure for direct-entry midwives had just been codified in the California Business and Professions Code in 1994.  We were years ahead of the trends.

EXPANDING OUR MISSION AND REACH

In 2010, with a grant from The Laurence H. Tribe Charitable Trust,  the DBA Association for Wholistic Maternal and Newborn Health (AWMNH) was established with the same mission but a different focus.  

By 2011,  our mission had evolved and changed. However, we remained committed to promoting the Midwives Model of Care and integrating client-centered, wholistic maternity care into maternal health programs. We focused our outreach efforts on promoting this model in clinics, hospitals, and public health departments rather than building a midwifery school that would matriculate students. 

In 2020, we underwent a change in our strategic plan, and rebranded as Happy Mama Healthy Baby Alliance, incorporating the newest research on the lifelong impact of maternal stress on fetal development and child health.

At the outset,  there was no mechanism to pay doulas serving low-income families who otherwise would not be able to afford a doula. But seeing the need for Medi-Cal mothers to receive doula support, we began offering Community Doula Services through a volunteer program. This program enabled new graduate doulas to fulfill their certification requirements while providing a much-needed service to low-to-moderate-income families. Until 2024, reimbursement for doula services was not available in California. In 2024, The California Department of Health Services Medi-Cal Program started covering doula services and we became a doula provider employing between 10-13 doulas under Happy Mama Healthy Baby Alliance.

POLICY WORK TO IMPROVE MATERNITY CARE AND BIRTH OUTCOMES  

2010-2011– With funding received from The California Community Foundation for Nursing Education and Hospital Improvements we launched the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative of Los Angeles County, a policy and hospital improvement initiative based on the five principles (normalcy of birth, empowerment, autonomy, do not harm, and responsibility) and ten steps of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative,  developed by the Coalition to Improve Maternity Services.

From 2011 to 2015, our organization held numerous conferences as part of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative of Los Angeles County that brought together healthcare professionals from a variety of backgrounds, including public health professionals, physicians, nurses, doulas, and midwives. The goal of these conferences was to explore opportunities for collaboration and identify procedures for providing evidence-based and respectful care for birthing persons and their infants. In recognition of our efforts, we were awarded by The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services. Our outreach efforts have helped at least one hospital in Los Angeles, a public health clinic, and several perinatal providers to achieve “mother-friendly” status. Additionally, we have raised awareness about the effectiveness of the recommendations of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI) in improving birth outcomes.

In 2016, we hosted the Human Rights in Childbirth US Summit and The Birthing Justice Forum along with Black Women Birthing Justice and Human Rights in Childbirth, bringing together birth workers and activists from around the country to launch a new paradigm in maternal health, “Birthing Justice” focusing on the human rights of childbearing persons.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

 2010- we conducted our first course, Childbirth Education for Health and Human Service Workers for home visitors working at  Maternal-Child Health Access, on the pilot project Welcome Baby! Program funded by First 5 LA.

2011- we launched The Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Training and Certification Program.  Hired by The Center for Health Promotion at UCLA, we conducted a training Community Health Promoters working the Neighborhood Mother-Mentor Program, a program based in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles, which was part of a translational research project at UCLA directed by  Dr. Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Ph.D.

2015 to 2019, -we were funded by Esperanza Community Housing Corporation to deliver our  Perinatal Support Specialist Doula Training to their Community Health Promoters (Promatores de Salud), giving them the knowledge and skills to provide maternal care and perinatal and lactation education to pregnant women and new mothers living in South Los Angeles, California.

2020-2021 – we trained maternal-child mental health staff at  Wellnest Emotional Health and Wellbeing. “Wellnest’s Socially Integrated Service Model is designed to address the whole child, from 0-25, the entire family, and the communities they live in” (Wellnest, 2021).  The company invested in staff perinatal training, completing our Perinatal Support Specialist Training, Childbirth Educator Training, and Postpartum Doula Training, enabling them to provide comprehensive perinatal support services for their clients in South Los Angeles.

2021-2023 – A grant provided by Prolacta Bioscience/Athari Council enabled us to give perinatal community education to low-income families and provide scholarships for low-income BIPOC persons to take our Heart and Hands Postpartum Doula Training.

 2024 – We received a grant from The Forward Giving Fund, enabling us to provide scholarships for low-income BIPOC women to participate in our Community Birth Doula Training Program.

2022 to 2025 – We launched a partnership with Venice Family Clinic, a federally qualified health clinic (FQHC) in Los Angeles County providing doula support services to 100 women per year in Spanish and English. The program resulted in lowering cesarean section rates and premature birth, increasing breastfeeding initiation and improving maternal satisfaction with their birth experience.

2022 -We became a program of Heluna Health, a leader in population health initiatives, and proudly were established as their Southern California doula program.  Under Heluna Health, we received a two-year grant from United Healthcare to provide doula services in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2023-2025 – As a program of  Heluna Health, we  received a two-year grant from LA Care’s Generating Support for African American Infants and Nurturer’s Grant (GAAINS II & III) and initiated a Postpartum Doula Program for Los Angeles’ African American families called Nurturing Roots. This grant also provided fatherhood support services for African-American men.

COMMUNITY PERINATAL HEALTH EDUCATION

Happy Mama Healthy Baby Alliance offers community health education on pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.  Here are some of the classes we offer:

Empowered Birth Choices  (English and Spanish)

A 4-week series of group classes for pregnant persons and their partners

This class helps expectant parents to:

• Prevent Premature Birth
• Cultivate Trust in Birth
• Make Informed Decisions
• Know Their Birthing Rights
• Understand the Birth Process
• Make Informed Choices
• Cope with Labor and Birth
• Breastfeed Successfully
• Bond with their Newborns
• Smoothly Adjust to Parenthood
• Become confident dads/partners

We accept Medi-Cal and PPO insurance for this class.

Breastfeeding education class for pregnant and parenting persons

This class covers the basics of how to get breastfeeding started right,  make it work, and cope with everyday problems. Breastfeeding support by Breastfeeding Peer Counselors and referral to International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) is also available.

COMMUNITY-BASED DOULA PROGRAM

2011- Our doula program began serving low-income families with volunteer and donation-based labor and postpartum doula services filling a gap in access to professional doula support for low-income families.

2024, doula support is now a Medi-Cal benefit, and we can bill for services. We currently accept Medi-Cal from LA Care, Molina and Kaiser Permanente. In 2025, we began accepting PPO insurance from Kaiser Permanente and LA Care. Our Doulas are BIPOC persons from the neighborhoods and communities they serve. Click here to meet our doulas.

2020– we established the DBA Happy Mama Healthy Baby Alliance, as new research emerged about the importance of maternal and infant mental health.  Our slogan “Happy Mamas Growing Healthy Babies,” reflects the need to educate expectant parents on the importance of prenatal bonding and conscious pregnancy and natural childbirth and attachment parenting practices. 

With pandemic-relief monies received in 2020, we hired community doulas to provide virtual labor support to anxious mothers giving birth during the first months of COVID-19. We used the slogan, “We are still here, and you are not alone” while keeping our doulas employed through the pandemic providing virtual labor support.

 2021-2025– In collaboration with Federally-Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC)  Venice Family Clinic (VFC). We implemented a clinic doula program for VFC’s prenatal patients. Our collaboration was the first doula organization-FQHC collaboration of it’s kind in Los Angeles County and we served 100 women per year in this program and our birth outcomes are superior to LA County overall, showing the real impact that can be made when medical and social care organizations work together.

2021– we established our company as a non-governmental organization in Ghana, West Africa, positioning ourselves to work on developing doula programs on the continent.

In 2022, we became one of Heluna Health’s programs. They support us in various ways, helping us to achieve our mission and reach more mothers and families in need.

In 2025, we established our organization in South Africa and launched Happy Mama Healthy Baby Africa Alliance and began training doulas and offering doula support in public and private hospitals.

WHO WE ARE TODAY

Our main program is the Happy Mama Healthy Baby Community Doula Program. The Community-Based Doula Model is an innovative approach to addressing seemingly intransigent ethnic perinatal health disparities through advocacy, health education, and physical and emotional support. We work with Los Angeles hospitals, clinics and non-profit agencies, to provide doula services for their prenatal patients.

We aim to improve maternal-infant health, reduce health inequities and disparities, enhance maternity care quality, lower maternity care expenses, increase access to midwives and doulas, and promote evidence-based and respectful maternity care by bringing together professionals from various disciplines to bridge the gaps between doula care and midwifery and medicine.

 Our training and classes are trauma-informed, evidence-based, and culturally aware, promoting social justice in health. We have continued to offer community-based doula support to low-income, mostly BIPOC families because we believe every family deserves a doula.

OUR STRATEGIES

• Design community-based initiatives and strategies, engage and mobilize stakeholders to improve maternal and child health in their jurisdictions.
• Create networking and continuing education opportunities for perinatal professionals: seminars, conferences, webinars, panel discussions, film screenings, etc.
• Provide free and low-cost doula, lactation support, and childbirth education for low-income pregnant women and adolescents. 
• Implement programs to improve maternal and infant health through consulting with ministries of health, health plans, clinics, hospitals, and non-profit/nongovernmental programs to provide evidence-based, mother and baby-centered, holistic, and respectful maternity care programs aimed to address perinatal and child health inequities and disparities.
• Provide training and certification programs in maternity care for health and human service providers and community members.

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

Our trainings include Community  Birth Doula Training,  Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Training, Heart and Hands Postpartum Doula Training, and Childbirth Educator Training for Health and Human Service Professionals.

WHO WE HAVE WORKED WITH

We receive fee-for-service income from our professional training programs, conferences, webinars, and classes. We have worked with dozens of agencies, including:

• Martin Luther King Hospital Prenatal Program, South Los Angeles, CA
• County General Nurse-Midwifery Program, Los Angeles, CA
• Heluna Health, City of Industry, CA
• Venice Family Clinic, Venice, CA
• Scripps Hospital Power Moms Project, San Diego, CA
• Wellnest Emotional Support & Wellbeing, South Los Angeles, CA
• Black Women Birthing Justice, Oakland, CA
• Prototypes Black Infant Health Program, Pomona, CA
• Pasadena Public Health Department Black Infant Health Program, Pasadena, CA
• Prototypes Health Right 360, Pomona, CA
• Human Rights in Childbirth, Portland, OR
• Therapeutic Play Foundation, Pasadena, CA
• Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, Promatora de Salud/Community Health Promoter Program – Los Angeles, CA
• UCLA Center for Health Promotion, Neighborhood Mother-Mentor Program – Pico-Union Neighborhood of Los Angeles. CA
• Maternal Child Health Access, Welcome Baby! Pilot Program, Los Angeles, CA
• Health & Human Services Association of Martin & Faribault County, Blue Earth, MN

   

• Nile Sisters Development Association, San Diego, CA
• Fremont County Breastfeeding Coalition, Canon, Colorado
• El Nido Family Services, Los Angeles, CA
• Pacific Clinics, Los Angeles, CA
• Childcare Resource Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Human Services Association, Bell Gardens, CA
• Health Net, Inc. – Los Angeles, CA
• Fresno Department of Public Health, Fresno, CA
• University Muslim Medical Association (UMMA)  Clinic – South Los Angeles, CA
• Pediatric Therapy Network, Torrance, CA
• Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP) Clinic, Pasadena, CA
• Benevolence Industries Inc. Central Medical Clinic, Crenshaw District,  Los Angeles, CA
• All Care One Health Center Inc.,  San Fernando Valley & East Los Angeles, CA

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Training and Certification Programs

Our trainings include Community  Birth Doula Training,  Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Training, Heart and Hands Postpartum Doula Training, and Childbirth Educator Training for Health and Human Service Professionals.

We also offer online, self-paced certification programs including Childbirth Educator Training  and Postpartum Doula Training and CEU webinars for nurses, midwives and doulas.

Conferences and Events

Our conferences and events included The Mother-Friendly Childbirth Symposium, The Birthing Justice Forum, The Maternal-Child Health Champion Awards Ceremony, and our film and discussion series, where we provide a forum to discuss challenging issues such as racism in maternity care and the lifelong impact of maternal stress on fetal development and child health.

Speakers at our conferences include renowned experts including:

Dr. Sarah Buckley (researcher and physician, author of Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing).

Dr. Christine Morton, Ph.D. (Sociologist/Researcher at California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative at Stanford University)

 Dr. Chinyere Oparah (Editor and Co-Founder Blackof of  Women Birthing Justice)

Dr. Robbie Davis-Floyd (Medical Anthropologist and author of Birth as An American Rite of Passage).

Hermine Hayes-Klein, JD (Human Rights/Birth Justice Attorney and Founder of Human Rights in Childbirth).

Paula X.Rojas, LM, CPM (Co-Founder of Mamas of Color Rising).

Ena Suseth Valladares (California Latinas for Reproductive Justice).

Dr. Sayida Peprah, Psy.D., Perinatal Psychologist

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SUPPORT OUR WORK – MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION

Healthy Mama Happy Baby Alliance is a DBA of Wholistic Midwifery School of Southern California, a public charity. We are exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) 3 of the IRS code. Contributions to our organization are tax-deductible under section 170 of the code. We can receive tax-deductible requests, devices, transfers, or gifts under sections 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the code.

Want to Learn More Before You Donate? Check us out on Guidestar. Our EIN is 95-4451418

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