Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Washington.
Hi Denise, I’m so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started this birth work business through my birthing experience with my first child. I was 18 years old. I was homeless. My mother had put me out and didn’t want to support me through my pregnancy. My child’s father had decided to relocate back to California, and I was in Kansas. So I was all alone and just graduated high school. All my friends had gone to college, and I was home pregnant. So, I lived in a shelter for pregnant teenagers and started to prepare myself for childbirth and parenthood because I had no guidance. I had no one to talk to about that. I read books, watched videos, read magazines, and tried to prepare myself for childbirth.
My son did come early at 35 weeks. Everything that I thought that I could do, I couldn’t. I was in the hospital alone, and no one listened to me. Things were done to my body and my baby that I didn’t want or didn’t like. Things were forced upon me. I got scared into an epidural and was told to get it now or get it later, getting a C-section. I didn’t want a C-section, so I got the epidural. They broke my water, and because of the epidural, I couldn’t feel to push, so they used a vacuum to get my baby out vaginally.
That whole experience traumatized me and scared me for future pregnancies, and it also scared me for the girls that I lived with. Despite everything done to my body, the most significant thing was that I was alone. There was no one there with me. There was no one there to comfort me. I had a lovely and decent nurse, but she was a nurse. She wasn’t there the whole time and was in and out. The biggest thing I remember was being afraid and alone. Given the circumstances of where I lived, everyone there was in the same boat as me. They had no family that could be there for different reasons. Some families just weren’t around, and some families weren’t allowed.
So, I started attending the births with the girls I lived with, and that’s how I got started. That’s how I found out what a doula was back then. They weren’t called doulas; they were called birth coaches. So, I started that journey into birth work in 1998. But I didn’t officially start calling myself a birth worker until 2001. That’s how I got started.
Delivering Unto You was something I knew I would do and wanted to do. I wrote that first draft in 2007. I knew I would be a midwife then and wanted my birth center. Initially, that’s all Delivering Unto You was supposed to be: a birthing center. Moving to Austin in 2010 and working with other organizations created to support black and brown women, I noticed many disparities I did not have to face or deal with in Kansas City.
Kansas City is a much smaller town and more heavily populated with black and brown people. I didn’t struggle with food, transportation, housing, or all of those things because it was just the resources. I lived in public housing for five years. I was on food stamps and WIC and TANF, and all of those things were easy to get as long as you had a child. There weren’t these restraints I see here in Austin when it comes to getting those things. If it wasn’t for those things back in Kansas, I don’t know what I would have done. Those resources and the assistance that I received in those early years of my kids’ lives are what supported us and what also supported me to go to college and keep a job.
When I moved here and saw my struggle to survive in this city, Delivering Unto You grew into more than just a birth center. I saw pregnant people struggling to eat, keep a job, or get a job. They’re struggling to get to their doctor’s appointments. The people in Austin are struggling to access the necessities I did not struggle with in my journey into motherhood. I worked with many organizations, and they needed to address all the issues then. Delivering Unto You grew into what I like to call a gap filler. Some things are needed during pregnancy that shouldn’t be considered a luxury. Delivering Unto You started as just being what it was, just me offering doula services, help with holistic services, and financial help with holistic services. Massage therapy and chiropractic services were the first holistic services I started helping with.
After starting my midwifery journey, I worked in a predominantly white space. I did not see my people come in for midwifery care. I learned why my people don’t come in for midwifery care, and that led me to start the maternity care fund and take donations. It was a GoFundMe initially. I raised around $13,000 the first time and could help about eight or nine women pay their midwives or get midwifery care. From there, raising funds became part of Delivering Unto You.
Everything I’ve created within Delivering Unto You is because of what either I or someone else went through in pregnancy. I want to call it a barrier breaker. There isn’t any reason why a pregnant person cannot get the things they need to support them during their pregnancy. All of the things that I do, from making birth kits at no cost so they can have their home birth, to affording a midwife, to providing HEB cards for food, to providing medical stuff such as blood pressure cups, compression socks, whatever, the things that are needed. I have prenatal pills, iron supplements, vitamin D, magnesium, and anything that people need during their pregnancy that I can help with. I aim to provide whatever is necessary to have a better pregnancy. That’s how I got started and what it means to me.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My journey with Delivering Unto You has been a roller coaster, an uphill, downhill battle. The most significant issue I’m still dealing with is awareness. Making people aware that Delivering Unto You is here, but all of the organizations in Austin. It still shocks me how many people I encounter who do not know—getting the awareness of what black birthing bodies face in this city and America. Our mortality and morbidity rates need awareness. People need to know that there are alternatives and options.
So many people in our community think you go to the hospital, have your baby, and do what you’re told. And that comes from the generations before us, right? We’re pretty few generations removed from home birth being the norm. But it’s been instilled so deeply into our parents and grandparents that they instilled it in us. And now, these newer and younger generations do what their grandmothers and mothers did. They’re unaware that they have other options. Most people know when they’re feeling mistreated or when something doesn’t feel right, but they don’t have any other option. Support is also essential. Many people are past their reproductive years or choose not to reproduce but can help and support organizations like mine.
My journey has been a roller coaster. It has had its ups and downs and its good and bad moments. My grandmother always told me that anything worth having is worth fighting for. You’re going to have to work for it. But it’s work that is needed. So I’m going to do it, and it will get done.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Delivering Unto You?
Delivering Unto You is a black-led, black-operated nonprofit that provides maternity care and support to black birthing bodies in Austin and surrounding areas. Our primary focus is midwifery care to give black birthing bodies an option. If they don’t want to go to a doctor, they can come to a midwife and get their maternity care, but they can choose to give birth where they feel the most comfortable. So whether that is birthing at home, birth center, or hospital, they have that option when they come to us. That sets us apart from any other organization and midwifery practice in this area.
Most midwives only allow their clients to give birth at home. Most birth centers here do not allow their clients the option to give birth at home. Delivering Unto You is giving you all three paths that you can take to make your birthing journey yours. Not only is that a unique thing that makes us different in this area, but it is also that we are black-led and black-operated. There is no other black-led, black-operated maternity care support here in Austin. So, the midwives and staff involved are black and brown. You will see the representation of yourself coming to Delivering Unto You.
We also offer many resources that support black birthing families during this time. We host village-building events twice a year, where people gather to build community, meet other parents, and enjoy life together for a few hours without kids being around. Our mommy workouts are Pregnant and Popping for pregnant people and Hot Mamas for postpartum, no matter how old your child is.
We also have our Dad Empower, our Men to Dads Group, a virtual group for just dads of color to sit and talk about whatever they want. A black man, a father of four, and a former client leads this group. We also have Encore Village Spotlight events. These events showcase the artistry within our community. The arts is my second love. We host these events to showcase the artistry of the black people in our community and a tool to bring awareness. That is my way of bringing awareness to more people by taking us outside the typical birth bubble we sometimes find ourselves trapped in when trying to help people.
As for fundraising, we have our Maternity Care Fund and our VIP Fund, which stands for Very Important Pregnancy. The Maternity Care Fund is strictly for maternity and midwifery care. The VIP Fund covers everything outside of maternity care to help families. Whether it’s meeting with a nutritionist, relaxation consultant, pelvic floor therapist, massage therapist, chiropractic services, mental health services, food, transportation, utility assistance, or rental assistance, all of those things are what the VIP fund covers. Think of Delivering Unto You as a directory. It can provide some assistance, but we also guide you to assistance with other organizations, such as doula services. I am connected with three organizations that provide doula services. Those organizations assist with things such as baby items through community baby showers.
I have yet to estimate an estimated date for our standalone facility, but I do have an estimated date for our shared space. My preceptor opened a birth center, Manor Birth Sanctuary. A preceptor is a licensed or certified nurse midwife who trains a student midwife. My preceptor opened a birth center and immediately offered me space when she opened it. Manor Birth Sanctuary is the temporary space where I have a clinic office. Any of my Delivering Unto You clients who want a birth center birth can have their babies in her birth center for now. So, Manor Birth Sanctuary is the birth center, but Delivering Unto You occupies space within that birth center.
I’m most proud of the maternity care fund and the VIP fund. No one in this area offered anything like that when I started it. By creating that fund, I gained much support and received my most significant funding from St. David’s in 2021. The fund allows me to offer the sliding scale for midwifery care. This fund also allows us to provide midwifery services to those who can’t afford sliding scale. This method prevents patients from being turned away because they can’t pay. That is huge because many midwives struggle with finances, keeping afloat, and fighting insurance to get their payments. So many patients think they can’t afford midwifery. So the fund has just eliminated all of that mess. Like midwife is going to get paid, patient is going to get the care, and we’re going to have a better outcome, which is the goal, right? The goal is to have a better birthing outcome for people. One pregnancy and birth at a time will change the outlook and outcome for black birthing bodies. That is what I’m most proud of.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I am a risk taker; there’s no doubt about that. Starting Delivering Unto You was a risk within itself. Starting Delivery Unto You required my attention and time, which I wasn’t getting paid for the first two years. I got a few donations from a few clients, but payments at the time needed to be more consistent. I also had to reduce my hours at my paying job to maintain and manage Delivering Unto You because I was solo for so long. Any risk you take to improve something is worth taking, and it usually pans out. The process of opening the birthing center has been hard. There’s been a few times when I wanted to quit. I’ve been looking for a space, funding, support, getting awareness out there, and even my plan. But as I said, if it’s something for the betterment of people and our world, it’s worth giving it a shot. Opportunities that are being created to make life better for people are going to work if that is the true intention behind it.
Pricing:
- Midwifery services outside of Hospital: Sliding Scale $2500-$5500
- Hospital Plans (sliding scale) are $1500-$2500
- There is no income varication; you pick your price. If you cannot pay, there is an income verification.
- Encore Events have a $20 entry fee.
- Everything is at no cost.
Contact Info:
- Website: deliveringuntoyou.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deliveringuntoyou/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deliveringuntoyou
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeliverUntoYou
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@denisewashington9456
Image Credits
Denise Washington
