Roots of Labor Birth Collective

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Oakland, CA
Roots of Labor Birth Collective

Roots of Labor Birth Collective (RLBC) is a Bay Area Collective that consists of birth and postpartum doulas of color. We are here to support each other

About Roots of Labor Collective

RLBC’s partnership with UCSF began in 2013 when the East Bay Community Birth Support Project grew out of a collaboration between two organizations working on birth justice issues in the Bay Area. RLBC’s doulas are people of color from all different backgrounds coming together to serve clients from various communities in Alameda County. These clients are mostly l

ow-income and from communities of color, who are utilizing social services. By providing continuous birth labor support, clients have improved birth outcomes and overall patient satisfaction. The doulas themselves are also served by being a part of the collective. Having a diverse group of members allows maximum learning through peer to peer support, workshops and skill sharing. This allows for a wide range of options for the clients that RLBC serves. Core Values

We are a part of the birth justice movement

We support birthing people of all sizes, genders and family structures

We are here to work with POC, marginalized low-income folk

We promote the sustainability of doula work

This collective aims to sustain the entrepreneurship of the profession of doula by using this as a training model for creating new doulas

Our goal is to provide the tools and knowledge for the healthiest babies and birth experiences.

04/22/2026

It’s almost May and we’re shifting the container a little 🌿

Alongside our virtual Doula Circles (next one is TODAY btw) we’re gathering IRL in Oakland next month!

Join us for an in-person circle for BIPGM birthworkers - a space to check in and be in community with folks who understand the work and what it asks of us. We welcome all birthworkers descended from the global majority: come to connect and receive support from each other.

Cost: FREE!

Kids welcome, and the space is wheelchair & stroller accessible. There’s plenty of free street parking in the neighborhood, and the venue is about a 20 minute walk from Ashby BART stop.

We’ll keep it grounded and spacious.

Come with what’s on your mind, or just come to be held.
We’re tending this space with care - centering access, consent, and collective safety.

We’ll share more details (including accessibility notes + how to move in ways that support each other) at the RSVP link.

📍 Oakland
🗓 May 2 (10am-12pm)
🔗 Link in bio for details + RSVP

02/28/2026

Y’all! Y’ALL!!

We are at 21% of our goal and 63 of you have contributed and countless more have shared and like and commented and reposted. Thank you so much for all the ways y’all show up. We are deeply grateful and we’re not done yet. Let’s keep it going all the way!

We really about to have a jail-based doula training completely funded by community. Come on now!!

If you believe care belongs everywhere, especially inside carceral spaces, this is your moment.

👏🏽 Give what you can.
🌳 Share this post.
💬 Text 3 people who care about reproductive justice.

March 6 is coming fast.

Let’s meet it together. 🌱

02/25/2026

We are bringing paid, community-trained doulas into Santa Rita Jail, where we’ve been offering perinatal support, for a full spectrum doula training. 🎉

🌼 Not as charity.
🌼 Not as saviors.
🌼 Not as unpaid labor.

As infrastructure.

We need to raise $25,000 in 10 days to fund facilitator pay, participant support, materials, and to build this as a recurring offering where our community members can heed the calling to become doulas.

Abolition isn’t abstract.
It looks like dignity.
It looks like autonomy.
It looks like funding care instead of punishment.

If you believe care belongs everywhere, especially inside carceral spaces,this is your moment.

👏🏽 Give what you can.
🌳 Share this post.
💬 Text 3 people who care about reproductive justice.

March 6 is coming fast.

Let’s meet it together. 🌱

01/29/2026

Join the California Doula Labor Table’s Community Listening Session TOMORROW (January 30th, 2026) and share your thoughts on doulas, adversity and organizing! Please invite your networks as well!

The California Doula Labor Table (24 doulas from across the state) convened all of last year to discuss and strategize on how we want to move the work forward as we see rapid growth in our profession thanks in great part to the 2023 Medi-Cal doula benefit.

This is our second and concluding community listening session, which will accompany our final white papers on 1) how doulas mitigate and support ourselves and our clients to cope with childhood adversity and toxic stress; and 2) how doulas could organize as a growing workforce to best empower ourselves and support our clients.

We’ll have two panels discussing these two important topics, present our white papers for your review and engage in a community discussion. We want to hear from you!

California Doula Labor Table
Community Listening Session
Date: January 30, 2026
Time: 10am PST - 1pm PST

Registration link: bit.ly/DoulaListen2

Hope to see you there!

03/01/2025

Sign on to our community letter to DHCS to ensure that MCPs pay our Medi-Cal doulas! Too many have not been fully compensated for their labor and this must stop immediately.

bit.ly/SignOnAction

11/22/2024

Thank you to everyone who was able to show up last week to the Doulas Services as a Medi-Cal Benefit Implementation Workgroup Meeting. Your presence at these public stakeholder meetings is so important!

The replay/transcript/presentation links of the last meeting are now up on the DHCS Doula Benefit website! DM me for the link!

As community birthworkers, as community members and as Medi-Cal birthing families, your input and feedback about the challenges and barriers you’re facing trying to access or offer doula services makes all the difference!

This is one of many ways that you can participate in making public health work for everyone and especially for the most vulnerable and historically marginalized members of our community.

SAVE THE DATE for the next public stakeholder meeting: January 10, 2025.

In the meantime, whether you’re pregnant or postpartum and seeking doula support, OR if you’re a doula trying to offer support through the Medi-Cal benefit, please tell us about your experience through our community feedback form: bit.ly/MediCalDoulaBenefitFeedback

Let’s look out for each other and make this benefit BENEFIT us!

11/21/2024

ABORTION is Healthcare.

Abortion IS healthcare.

Abortion is HEALTHCARE.

Disinformation and misinformation are RIFE these days and we want to make sure that we’re all fully informed and clear... so here are a few facts about abortion that we should all know:

Facts about abortion
01. Abortions can be done by taking a pill or through an in-clinic procedure.

02. It does not cause fertility
issues or cancer.

03. It is common. In the US, about 25% of people with uteruses will have an abortion by the time they’re 45 years old.

04. About 60% of people who have abortions already have at least one child.

Was any of this information new to you?

What are some other facts about abortion you’d like to see shared next time?

11/15/2024

The Doula Services Medi-Cal Benefit Implementation Workgroup meets today, November 15, 2024 from 10am - 12pm. Stakeholders meet with DHCS to make recommendations to reduce barriers and uplift obstacles to implementation of this benefit.

Please join us if you’re able to - give your input and share how the implementation of this benefit is going in your experience.

Are your clients able to access doula care through their Medi-Cal coverage?

Are your fellow doulas able to enroll as providers or contract with managed care plans to serve our community members?

Join the call:
bit.ly/Nov15DoulaWorkgroup

Share your feedback:
bit.ly/MediCalDoulaBenefitFeedback

10/21/2024

We know so many of you participated in this survey so wanted to make sure you got the chance to hear about the results!!

Join the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) and doula panelists Kairis Chiaji and Jemilla White, as we share the results from our 2024 California Doula Workforce Survey. The goal of this research is to create a current snapshot of the doula workforce in California.

We will cover topics like demographics of California’s doula workforce, what types of support doulas provide, insights on training adequacy, their perspective on the Medi-Cal doula benefit, and more. This information can help policymakers, state and local agencies, and advocates know where the doula workforce needs more support and resources. Kairis and Jemilla will also share their experience collaborating on this project and the importance of doula involvement in research and policy.

This webinar will run on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 from 9:30 - 11:00 AM PST

Register now:
tinyurl.com/CADoulaWorkforceWebinar

10/10/2024

Are you a doula enrolling or serving as a Medi-Cal provider?

Are you pregnant or postpartum? Have you faced any obstacles accessing Medi-Cal doula providers?

We want to hear about any barriers or challenges you’re facing - share how it’s going here:
bit.ly/MediCalDoulaBenefitFeedback

This form is managed by independent advocates for the California Medi-Cal doula benefit who are not affiliated with any government or state agencies.

Address

Oakland, CA

Telephone

805-910-RLBC

Website

http://www.rootsoflaborbc.com/

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