Donate to Ttawaxt Birth Justice Center

Mission: Reducing infant and maternal mortality by nurturing a healthy birthing community, grounded in Indigenous ancestral knowledge

"I enjoyed going to the education birthing class because it was my first pregnancy, so I was really scared about a lot of things to come when I was pregnant, and when I went to the class, I learned a lot of information, and it eased my mind on some things when it was time to give birth to my daughter."

-Client at TBJC

Every Baby Deserves a Healthy Start.

Right now in Yakima County, mothers are facing a crisis.

• With only 40 hospital beds for 3,000 births each year, and just four midwives serving the entire area, our rural reservation has become a maternity desert. After recent hospital closures, including the one on the reservation, many families must now travel over an hour just to give birth.
• When care is this far away, the consequences ripple outward. Lack of access leads to delayed prenatal visits, untreated complications, and serious mental health challenges, including depression, substance use, and suicide.

For Native American mothers, the stakes are even higher.

• In Washington State, Native women face maternal death rates 7.3 times higher than white women. These are not just statistics. These are daughters, sisters, aunties, and lifegivers in our own community

Here is what many people don't know.

• Only 8% of maternal deaths happen during childbirth.
• Most deaths, nearly 70%, occur after pregnancy ends, with 45% happening between 43 days and one year postpartum. Long after the medical system has moved on.
• Eighty-seven percent of these deaths are preventable.

This is not inevitable. This is a failure of access, support, and culturally rooted care. In a rural reservation maternity desert like ours, there are only a few organizations in the entire country doing this kind of work, walking alongside families not just at birth, but long after. Because every mother deserves to be seen. Every baby deserves a healthy beginning. And every family deserves a circle of care that does not disappear when pregnancy ends.

This Is What We Do at Ttawaxt

Healthcare that supports the whole person:

• Pregnancy education
• Breastfeeding support
• Care coordination to connect our families to the resources they need to thrive
• Support groups where birthing people gather, share stories, and strengthen one another
• Teaching around body sovereignty and traditional practices
• We also advocate at the local, state, and national levels for systemic change.
• Building a free-standing birth center on the reservation

Everything works together to create a circle of care, one that surrounds families with dignity, culture, and community throughout their journey.

Grants Help But Community Sustains Us

• We are deeply grateful for the grants we receive. They make our work possible. But grants do not cover our full operating budget.
• Seventy percent of funding should come from people like you who believe every mother deserves dignified, culturally rooted care.
• Your support keeps our doors open and ensures fewer lifegivers, caretakers, and families walk this journey alone.