Grants

Breech Without Borders is applying for grants, specifically ones that will allow us to train health professionals serving historically underrepresented communities and resource-poor populations.

Breech Without Borders has chosen these target groups:

• BIPOC maternity care providers
• Indian Health Services maternity care providers
• Plain midwives and/or providers who serve predominantly Plain populations
• Rural maternity care providers (defined as maternity care deserts/low access to maternity care)
• Providers serving migrant communities
• Resource-poor communities that cannot afford normal training fees

Our vision

Our 3-year grant project would bring vaginal breech trainings to 24 communities per year, free of charge. Each training workshop would teach up to 50 people, enabling us to train 1,200 providers per year. 

In addition, each community would receive a Sophie and Her Mum simulator, which would be entrusted to a local organization capable of caring for and operating the simulator. Any local birth worker would be able to practice on the simulator, creating a open-access, collaborative model for learning and continuing education. 

In exchange for the free training & simulator access, our trainees would pledge to offer pro bono services to a certain number of women per year, further expanding our mission to make vaginal breech more accessible, especially in the most underserved and vulnerable populations. 

Please share your video with us! 

Would you be willing to take 1-2 minutes and film a short video for our grant application? All you need to do is answer these 3 questions:

1. Who are you? (Introduce yourself and your community)
2. Why is breech training important for your community?
3. Why is breech training important for you as a provider? (In particular, the Macy Foundation would like to know: how would this grant project ensure that you are treated equitably? How would this grant project help address systemic inequities that reduce career satisfaction and limit advancement opportunities? )

Please send your video to grants@breechwithoutborders.org. If you are sending a large file, we recommend using WeTransfer.com (up to 2 GB) or Transfernow.net (up to 5 GB). 

Potential grant recipients

Meet Ximena Rojas of Justicia en Salud and the Refugee Health Alliance. She is a midwife on the Tijuana-San Diego border and serves migrant communities. 

CNM Jeanine Valrie Logan of Chicago's West Side explains why vaginal breech training is important for her and her community.

Charlotte Shilo-Goudeau, LM, CPM: Why breech training matters in my community. Charlotte is 1 of 4 African American women in the state of Louisiana to hold the title of Licensed Certified Professional Midwife. 

Attendees of the 2020 NW Indiana Breech Workshop--primarily from the Chicago area--explain why breech training is important in their communities. Over 50% of the attendees received full scholarships, thanks to the combined efforts of Breech Without Borders and several generous donors. 

Rebecca Walker, a midwife in northern Minnesota, care for Indigenous women and populations living in maternity care deserts. 

Leslie M. Payne, CPM discusses why Amish communities need breech-skilled providers.

Maureen McIver, CPM serves Amish, Mennonite, and African-American communities.

Susanah Smith, a midwife in central Pennsylvania who serves a large Plain community, explains why breech skills are important. 

Aravah Salatino is a midwife in Ohio serving Amish and Mennonite families. These women may have 12 or more children, necessitating access to vaginal breech providers in order to avoid cesarean sections.