New Ms. Foundation initiative funds birth justice nonprofits

By GLENN GAMBOA
AP Business Writer

Ms. Foundation for Women’s new Birth Justice Initiative, designed to support grassroots organizations led by Black, Indigenous and other women of color as they advance more equitable birth outcomes in the country, is already making a difference for nonprofits serving pregnant women. Sona Smith, Ms. Foundation’s Birth Justice program officer, said the foundation donated $1 million this year to grassroots organizations that “build power within the birth justice movement and address race-based health disparities, birth experiences and birth outcomes.” At the Clinton Global Initiative last month, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted that the United States is one of very few countries that has seen its maternal mortality rate rise in the past 20 years.