JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville woman is one of the few, if not the only, Black midwives licensed for at-home births in the Jacksonville area. Through her business, she is trying to decrease infant mortality rates, something the CDC reports impacts Black communities at higher rates than others.
Kimberly Homer started her at-home birth services business after realizing the need for midwives of color.
"This was in 2018, once you passed central Florida, you really didn't see any midwives of color," Kimberly Homer, owner of 'Crowning Midwifery', said. "I wanted to go to where there isn't access to a midwife that reflects my community, that reflects."
It's an important role in a state that is ranked 19th for highest infant mortality rates, according to the CDC.
Experts from the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition believe a number of factors could be behind this.
"Early entry into prenatal care is one thing that we want to try to continue to improve among, but also when we think about some of the access barriers around insurance that could be a contributing factor as well," Faye Johnson, the CEO of the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, said.
Infant mortality impacts non-Hispanic blacks more than any other race, 10.8 babies per 1,000 births, according to the latest CDC national data. What Homer does can help other black families feel safe, hopefully increasing rates of success.
"It's extremely important because it's individualized care. it's an exchange of education, its an exchange of information, it's an exchange of who you are as a person," Homer said.