South Phoenix Healthy Start

🎒✨ 4 Years of Service. 4 Years of Impact. 🎒✨

The Phoenix Alumni chapter is proud to host our 4th Annual Backpack Giveaway, helping students start the school year prepared, confident, and ready to succeed 📚.

📍 Faye Grey Rec. Center
📆 Saturday | July 18
⏰ 9am - 1pm
🎁 Backspacks with school supplies

🤿The pool will be open for swimming, as well as free food🍔.

🛒Help make this event another success! Donate through the link in our bio or scan the QR code on the flyer. Together, we can give our youth the tools they need to learn, grow and achieve.

This Thursday is our first session virtually from 4-6pm

RSVP within the class calendar
Www.maricopa.gov/healthystart

FREE SWWIMMING! Valley of the Sun JUNETEENTH Celebration 2026
Saturday, June 13th Eastlake Park 1549 E Jefferson Phoenix,
Details and applications: https://www.eventeny.com/.../valley-of-the-sun

Reflection on My First Assisted Birth - from Rachel, a South Phoenix Healthy StartDoula:

"Wanted to share with you all about my first birth.

Labor began early Friday morning, around 5am, with contractions about twenty minutes apart. This continued throughout the day steadily. I met her at the hospital at 1am on Saturday, she was 4cm and 90% effaced. What followed was a long, immersive, and sacred labor; roughly 24 hours, where every breath, every movement, every sound carried weight.

Before she chose an epidural around ten hours into active labor, we explored every position and technique I had learned: standing and slow dancing, on hands and knees, birthing ball, peanut ball, counter pressure with my body and the rebozo, massage, and a labor comb. Each shift, each adjustment was a conversation between her body and her power, with me holding space and support alongside her.

One moment that will stay with me forever happened during a contraction: I applied counter pressure with the rebozo while her mother, sisters, grandmother, and godmother inhaled together and hummed on the exhale.

That hum wasn’t just sound. It was ancestral memory, a lineage of Black women holding space, guiding, breathing, and birthing together across generations. It grounded her body, carried her through the pain, and transformed the room into a sacred, communal field. Hours passed in this energy, and I felt honored to witness it, to anchor her, and to participate in it.

The epidural ultimately did not work, despite five attempts. She leaned fully into the natural techniques we had cultivated, and I stayed present, ensuring her birth plan remained central, her questions were answered, and her agency was protected. Some staff resisted at times, but through steady presence, advocacy, and gentle insistence, I was able to maintain a respectful, protective environment for her.

She delivered a healthy baby girl, and the moment she saw her daughter, whispering, “Oh, baby girl, I love you”, was profound. I held her head and told her, “You did that,” because every contraction, every wave of labor, every hour of endurance belonged to her. She owned this moment, and I was simply witness, guide, and container.

Leaving the hospital, I felt exhausted, flooded with emotion, and floating in awe. This experience wasn’t a reminder of why I do this work, it was an initiation. I stepped fully into the depth, the responsibility, and the sacredness of being a doula. I was there for her, a Black woman surrounded by her Black women, mothers, and grandmothers, witnessing the strength, resilience, and sacred lineage of women in action. I am honored to have held space for her, for her family, and for this ancestral energy that carried her through labor. This birth marked the threshold of my own journey in this work, and I will carry it with me always."

Truly spectacular.
-Rachel

Learn more about the doula program: https://strongfamiliesaz.com/program/healthy-start/

Thank you to program sponsors Mercy Care and Maricopa County West Valley NAACP

We often talk about maternal health without talking about environment.

But where you live — your access to shade, clean air, transportation, and safe conditions — plays a direct role in outcomes for mothers and babies. That’s the focus of our latest Maternal Health Awareness video

If we want different outcomes, we have to look at the full picture.

Watch and share.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7DgqDGJi0E
Pamphlet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EAxzWhYc5e960oK5-Mpc8ENyK9S2DCiS/view

Appreciation to March of Dimes, City of Phoenix, AZ USA Office of Public Health, and Maricopa County for their partnership, and to Dignity Health, Mercy Care, South Phoenix Healthy Start, Arizona State University, African American Women's Giving & Empowerment Circle, and Nurturely their support. We are truly grateful.

Update: COVID-19 vaccines will not be available at this event. Actualización: NO habrá vacunas del COVID en este evento. 💙 Free vaccines near you Wednesday, June 3 from 2:00 to 4:30 PM St. Vincent de Paul School 3130 N. 51st Ave., Phoenix Vaccines available: -MMR (measles), COVID-19, and flu (kids + adults) -Shingles, Hepatitis A, and Tdap (adults only) With or without insurance, all are welcome. Children need parent or guardian consent. Questions? 602-506-6767 💙Vacunas GRATIS cerca de ti y no necesita cita Miércoles 3 de junio de 2:00 a 4:30 p. m. Escuela St. Vincent de Paul 3130 N. 51st Ave., Phoenix Vacunas disponibles para chicos y grandes: MMR (sarampión), COVID-19 y gripe Vacunas disponibles solo para adultos Herpes zóster (culebrilla), Hepatitis A y Tdap Con o sin seguro, todos son bienvenidos. Los niños necesitan el consentimiento de un padre o tutor. ¿Preguntas? 602-506-6767

Reflection on My First Assisted Birth - from Rachel, a South Phoenix Healthy Start Doula: "Labor began early Friday morning, around 5am, with contractions about twenty minutes apart. This continued throughout the day steadily. I met her at the hospital at 1am on Saturday, she was 4cm and 90% effaced. What followed was a long, immersive, and sacred labor; roughly 24 hours, where every breath, every movement, every sound carried weight. Before she chose an epidural around ten hours into active labor, we explored every position and technique I had learned: standing and slow dancing, on hands and knees, birthing ball, peanut ball, counter pressure with my body and the rebozo, massage, and a labor comb. One moment that will stay with me forever happened during a contraction: I applied counter pressure with the rebozo while her mother, sisters, grandmother, and godmother inhaled together and hummed on the exhale. That hum wasn’t just sound. It was ancestral memory, a lineage of Black women holding space, guiding, breathing, and birthing together across generations. It grounded her body, carried her through the pain, and transformed the room into a sacred, communal field. Hours passed in this energy, and I felt honored to witness it, to anchor her, and to participate in it. The epidural ultimately did not work. She leaned fully into the natural techniques we had cultivated, and I stayed present, ensuring her birth plan remained central, her questions were answered, and her agency was protected. She delivered a healthy baby girl, and the moment she saw her daughter, whispering, “Oh, baby girl, I love you”, was profound. She owned this moment, and I was simply witness, guide, and container. I stepped fully into the depth, the responsibility, and the sacredness of being a doula. I was there for her, a Black woman surrounded by her Black women, mothers, and grandmothers, witnessing the strength, resilience, and sacred lineage of women in action. This birth marked the threshold of my own journey in this work, and I will carry it with me always." Truly spectacular. -Rachel