a kindred birth

Two days overdue, Tiana Wright rests for a moment while walking around her neighborhood on February 23, 2022 in Temple City, California. She is birthing at Kindred Space LA, where midwives Kimberly Durdin and Allegra Hill recommend daily walks to help start labor. Even though decades of research document the ways that conventional maternity care can endanger Black women, Kindred Space is one of relatively few Black-owned birthing centers in the nation and the only one in Los Angeles.

Gladys Sanchez pre-labors at home with partner Justin Charlton in 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. The Kindred Space encourage clients to unpack their fears. With tears falling down her cheek she asks, “how much more painful is it going to get.”

At 27-weeks-pregnant, Tamara Robertson visits the beach with her children on Oct. 8, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Tamara birthed Robert and Christian, left and center, and her other two boys at a hospital but she never shook the feeling that she was in jeopardy. She plans to deliver her fifth baby with the Kindred Space midwives. Black women are nearly four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than white women. These stats make the birth process feel like a life-or-death ordeal.

Tamara Robertson is examined by midwife Kimberly Durdin during her 26-week check-up at Kindred Space on Sept. 30, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. Tamara’s four boys, partner and younger brother are with her and invited to participate with questions during the hour-long visit. In turn, Kimberly gives the kids tips on how they can help and what they can expect from a pregnant mom.

Midwife Allegra Hill and doula Andrey Lemon, left, work with Gladys Sanchez as she labors in a birthing tub in downtown on April 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. Research has shown that women with low-risk pregnancies fare better when cared for by midwives instead of obstetricians, said Dr. Emiliano Chavira, a maternal and fetal specialist. However if problems arise, clients like Gladys, who was not dilating properly, are transferred to a hospital. “I feel empathy for clients who don’t have the birth they want,” midwife Allegra Hill said. “Sometimes they apologize to us. But this is real life. There is no expectation that things will be perfect.”

Gladys Sanchez labors at home with her partner, midwives and a doula in downtown on Sunday, April 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. The midwives are in constant risk assessment for the birthing person and baby while keeping their wishes in mind and after laboring for many hours without full dilation everyone decided it was best for Gladys to transfer to a hospital where she received an epidural and delivered her baby girl the following morning.

Aijalon Redd holds her baby girl, Tori Davison for the very first time after delivering her at Kindred Space LA, a birthing, education, and support facility owned and operated by Black midwives in South LA on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. Tori is the first baby girl to be born in the center after midwives Allegra Hill and Kimberly Durdin opened the center mid-pandemic.

Seconds after delivering Indigo Amani Cavil, Ashanique Nelson-Cavil holds her with husband William Iman Cavil at Kindred Space LA on Friday, May 28, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. “One day she will know she was caught by Black hands,” Ashanique said. The oft-used phrase “Have Black hands catch your baby” reflects the midwives’ protective value of Black sisterhood and the comfort of feeling understood.

Aijalon Redd breastfeeds her baby girl, Tori Davison for the very first time after delivering at Kindred Space LA, a birthing, education, and support facility owned and operated by Black midwives in Hyde Park on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA.

Midwife Kimberly Durdin examines newborn Tori Davison, with father Dontori Davison at Kindred Space LA, a birthing, education, and support facility owned and operated by Black midwives in Hyde Park on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA.

Dontory Davison holds his baby girl, Tori Davison, after her birth at Kindred Space LA,.

Dontory Davison and Aijalon Redd lie in bed with their two children an hour after their baby girl, Tori Davison was born at Kindred Space LA.

After a postpartum visit from a Kindred Space midwife, the Davison family hangs on their front porch with one-week-old Tori on May 4, 2021 in South Los Angeles, California. The Kindred Space midwives have begun the certification process to make their care eligible for Medical coverage, which would make care more accessible for low-income women. In the meantime, some of their birthing people like Aijalon Davison, left, have had their care funded by the Victoria Project in partnership with the Black Maternal Healthcare Fund and the Sugar Heal Gang.

Christian Wright holds his baby sister, Reauxm Joseph at home in San Pedro on Feb. 10, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA. Reauxm’s mother planned a home birth with the Kindred Space midwives. However, midwives can only deliver a person in labor between 37 and 42 weeks and Reauxm was two weeks overdue. She was born at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital which has its own midwife-driven birthing protocols.