Reparative Birth Systems Initiative

motherwit2026.github.io/Reparative-Birth-Systems-Initiative/
Policy & Advocacy, Healing & Wellness
Virginia

About

RBSI is a community-governed initiative restoring birth and data sovereignty to the communities most harmed by medical, research, and state systems. Using our Recognition → Reckoning → Repair framework, we build community-controlled research infrastructure, train Community Data Stewards, and develop the Virginia Birth Justice Policy & Legislative Fellowship so impacted people carry their own evidence into policy. All research is governed by a Survivors Governance Council holding legal ownership of community data, under binding anti-extraction protocols. RBSI is fiscally sponsored by Elephant Circle (501(c)(3)).

Support

  • Policy & Advocacy

    RBSI turns survivor-held evidence into policy, starting with protections for pregnant and postpartum families facing eviction and the Maternal Sanctuary City pathway for Charlottesville. RBSI is Lead Agency for the housing and economic security strategy in the Blue Ridge Health District's 2025–2028 Community Health Improvement Plan.

  • Healing & Wellness

    Our methods treat healing as the method, not an add-on: Sacred Story Circles let pregnant, postpartum, and parenting survivors of housing precarity decide what their experiences mean. Rooted in the Grand Midwives tradition and Black feminist healing lineages, the work restores dignity and collective power rather than extracting stories.

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