Bump to Birth

Service area: Grand Rapids and surrounding areas

Born out of personal experience that ignited a passion for birth justice, Bump to Birth Doula Services supports families in the Grand Rapids area in every aspect of preparing for pregnancy, birth, and beyond. We provide comprehensive support and education needed for expanding families. We strive to find ways to address the inequities we see in maternal-child health through community involvement. Our aim is to improve the overall birth outcomes for BIPOC families in our community. We are committed to building inclusion and some of our tactics include easy accessibility in particular for women of color wanting to access doula care. We bring years of combined knowledge and skill providing support throughout pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period. We provide life impacting information, resources, and support to drive our clients in their decision making during the childbearing years and beyond. Bump to Birth teaches the next generation to reclaim traditional birth practices, giving power back to families to create their own transformative birth experience.

From Kiara: “Through my work as a birth doula and CLC, I walk alongside my community meeting my clients where they are. This has resulted in great trust and transformation where clients I have had the pleasure to serve now are advocating for other Black birthing people in the name of health equity.”

“It’s important for me to aid in restoring the value of the village and passing down generational knowledge to make sure that our young folks are provided evidence-based information with the ability to make an informed decision. Now is the time to empower our young folks to use their voices, self-advocate, and to be allies.”

Mission: To enhance the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health of our families and community through education, comfort, and support during pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting years.

Our values:

Communication: We make it a priority to learn your values, plans, and fears so we can craft the perfect plan and the perfect backup plan.
Connection: Feel seen, heard, and valued, in a judgment free space.
Growth: Realizing your strength and potential to overcome barriers and find more satisfaction with your birth experience.

Our Vision for the Future: We envision cultivating a community safe space for families of color to learn about their birthing choices and feel uplifted in the choices they make regarding their birth and parenting journey. We recognize the importance of Black birthing and breastfeeding and create space for families to create and tell their own stories, honoring the differences of each family’s experience.

Service model: We believe in empowering our clients with our knowledge and experience, and respect that you are the expert on your birth and your baby. Services currently offered include:

Preconception counseling and education
Labor doula support
Classes for teen parents and peer supporters
Comprehensive postpartum doula care
Lactation and feeding support
Placenta education and encapsulation
Childbirth classes and newborn classes
Reflection visits
Community referrals
Car seat safety/installation

Successes to date:

Established website and social media presence (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok with 2000+ followers to share birth and breastfeeding information)
Established First-ever Michigan Doula Week Recognition in partnership with Governor Whitmer
Awarded Athena Young Professional Award
Collaboration with Senator Geiss for doula services reimbursement
Presented on the Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars May 2021 presentation: “Beyond the Birth Suite: The Importance of Black Doulas in Pursuit of Maternal Infant Health Equity”
Member of the 2021 CORE Cohort
Racial Equity Young Parents Fund Awardee
MOASH presentation in July 2021
Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars October 2021 presentation: “Cultivating a New Culture: Revisiting and Reclaiming Lactation Practices for Black and Indigenous Communities”
Program Manager of Day One Doula Collective – to develop curriculum, facilitate, train, and support women and people of color to become community doulas
Milk Magic BIPOC Breastfeeding Panel during Black Breastfeeding Week 2021
Black Breastfeeding: A Candid Community Conversation
The Bump Bus
Selected as a Start Garden’s 100 Ideas finalist
Young, Black, and Gifted Grand Rapids Award
Board member and Diversity Equity Inclusion Committee of MomsBloom
MomsBloom 2019 Health Professional of the Year
Grand Rapids Kids Most Recommended Doula
R.O.S.E. Covid relief telehealth grant recipient
MTAP publishing
Hosted the Bumps and Babes Community Baby Shower in November 2021
Donated lactation supplies and baby items to Baxter Community Marketplace
Working alongside 2 doulas for mentorship for peer to peer breastfeeding support in the community
Hosted a wellness and baby fair in Spring 2022

Leadership: Kiara Baskin, CD, CLC, is founder of Bump to Birth Doula Services and Program Manager of Day One Doula Collective serving families of Grand Rapids, MI. As a Certified Doula and Lactation Counselor, Kiara is a dedicated birth worker who takes an integrative approach to birth and parenthood. With over 10 years of patient care experience and 6 years in maternal-child health, she brings a wealth of knowledge and believes all families should have access to evidence-based information and resources about birth and parenthood.

Partners: Kiara is a familiar face within the community of Grand Rapids through her previous work with Strong Beginnings- Healthy Start and as Co-Chair of the Healthy Kent Breastfeeding Coalition. She has been recognized by MomsBloom as Health Professional of the Year 2019, one of GR Kids’ top-recommended doulas, and having also received acknowledgments by way of a proclamation recognizing Doula Appreciation Week as an official week in the City of Grand Rapids and the State of Michigan. Partnerships include:

Michigan Breastfeeding Network
Black and Indigenous leaders of the CORE Cohort
MOASH
Day One Doula Collective
Michigan Council for Maternal Child Health (MCMCH)
Priority One Health
Healthy Kent Breastfeeding Coalition
MomsBloom
Spectrum Health
Mercy Health
Metro Health
Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (R.O.S.E.)

History of our partnership with MIBFN: Our partnership began in 2021 as an awardee of the COVID-19 and Young Parents Fund Mini Grants. We are founding participants in the CORE cohort and have since grown our partnership to include strategic consulting and presentations alongside the Michigan Organization for Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH). Kiara has also been a presenter on the Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars.