CLEVELAND — MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and author, is donating $640 million to small nonprofits through her charitable organization, Yield Giving.

What You Need To Know

  • Four nonprofits in Cleveland received money from MacKenzie Scott 

  • Birthing Beautiful Communities helps mothers have a better child-birthing experience 

  • Birthing Beautiful Communities is opening a labor and delivery center 

Thirteen million dollars are going to seven organizations all across Ohio, many of which are working to improve life for women in the community.

Chantel Tolbert and her team at Birthing Beautiful Communities were ecstatic when they found out they would be receiving a $2 million donation from MacKenzie Scott.

“To receive a grant like this, it really elevates our work, and it proves that we really do have great outcomes and we’re able to tackle a critical issue that exists in our community and other communities throughout the U.S.,” Tolbert said.

Tackling the issues of mothers having poor experiences with maternal health is the reason Birthing Beautiful Communities was founded. 

“We work with expectant and new mothers and we provide them with a perinatal support doula. That Doula walks with them throughout that journey of pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum, ensuring that the baby and the mom makes it to the first birthday,” Tolbert said.

The women at Birthing Beautiful Communities make sure the mother has parenting education, postpartum support and essential resources.

“Many moms have very bad experiences within the hospital systems, so we’re here to be an added support,” Tolbert said.

Support that will soon be provided to even more expecting mothers when they break ground on their new labor and delivery center this fall. 

“It’s just another way in which we, as an organization, can work to address infant and maternal mortality in our community,” Tolbert said.

Tolbert said the facility will give women in Ohio a new option for where they can give birth.

A place that’s not a hospital and not as expensive as bringing a midwife into your home.

“The birth center will be another alternative in which women can come and give birth and have an overall great experience and what’s unique about BBC is we are a group of black women who are working to address such a critical issue,” Tolbert said.

A critical issue that Joyce Fitzpatrick, professor of nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University, is passionate about. 

“So compared to other developed countries, our statistics are alarming that we have higher maternal mortality. We also have issues with morbidity, meaning there are complications with the birthing process that should not occur if we listened to women,” Fitzpatrick said.

And according to the CDC, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. 

“What the statistics show is that in particular, more black women, there’s an unconscious bias that we don’t listen to the women who are telling us about the complications they’re experiencing,” Tolbert said.

Fitzpatrick said the way to fix this is by providing mothers with options; exactly what Tolbert and her staff at Birthing Beautiful Communities are doing.

A process made easier by donations from people like Scott.

Six other nonprofits in Ohio are getting millions of dollars from Scott’s organization: Fairfax Renaissance, The LGBT Center and Towards Employment in Cleveland, HER Cincinnati, Women Helping Women and Justice for Migrant Women.