Roanoke – Urban Baby Beginnings held it’s grand opening of its Maternal/Perinatal Health Hub in Roanoke Thursday, a much needed resource to improve birth outcomes and maternal care for expecting mothers, especially those in underserved communities. This expansion represents a significant advancement in promoting maternal and infant health equity by offering comprehensive, culturally responsive support to expecting and new mothers in the region.
The Roanoke Health Hub located in downtown Roanoke at 1201 Franklin RD SW, will serve as a centralized resource for pregnant and postpartum individuals, providing essential services such as perinatal care coordination, doula and lactation support, mental health social support services, peer support groups, crisis diaper bank programming, and connections to vital community-based resources. The hub aims to bridge the gap in maternal health disparities, ensuring that all families—especially those facing systemic barriers—have access to high-quality, community-centered care.
Recent statistics highlight the urgent need for such community-based perinatal health initiatives. In Virginia, the maternal mortality rate among Black and Brown birthing families remains 2-3 times higher than that of white families. In 2022, Roanoke’s preterm birth rate was 10.4 per 1,000 births, with significantly higher rates in Black communities at 16.7 per 1,000 births. The state’s overall preterm birth rate in 2022 was 9.6 per 1,000 births.
Stephanie Spencer, Executive Director and Founder of Urban Baby Beginnings, emphasized the importance of addressing these disparities. “We cannot continue to accept the status quo when it comes to maternal and infant health. The disparities that persist are not just statistics — they are lived experiences, losses, and preventable tragedies,” Spencer said. “The opening of our Roanoke hub is a call to action. It is a declaration that every mother, regardless of race or income, deserves equitable, dignified, and high-quality care. We must do something different because lives depend on it.”
In an interview with WSLS 10 News, Spencer noted some of the needs Roanoke moms shared in a survey.
“So when we surveyed moms in the Roanoke area, aside from access to care and delays to care, they really elevated the need for social support, maternal mental health services, and doula support. These were things that they felt like they needed to have access to, and there were barriers to that from a financial aspect, but also to the workforce wasn’t available for them to connect with,” Spencer said. “Often one of the things that was said was that sometimes the services are available to me, but they’re not affordable for me to be able to access it. And for some of the areas that I’m used to going to right now, they’re at capacity and I’m not able to get the help or care that I need. And so we really took that as a means to really start to look at what was going on in the Roanoke area. I will also say that one of the things that we look at at the hub is the health of our infants. In many and in several areas of Roanoke, there are high pre-term birth rates higher than state averages. And so we know that we need to increase our supports to help the moms achieve the goals that they have.”
Urban Baby Beginnings’ expansion into Roanoke is part of its ongoing mission to improve birth outcomes and strengthen maternal health support systems across Virginia. Since its inception, UBB has expanded its hub operations to three regions of the state, serving families in Norfolk, Petersburg, Newport News, Richmond, and Roanoke. The organization provides culturally reflective perinatal care through doulas, home visitors, and care coordinators and has played a role in shaping maternal health policies through community-led advocacy.
Spencer stressed the message of wanting all mothers, despite their background or financial status to reach out for support.
“We just want to make sure people know what we do and feel comfortable enough to come on out and get help.”
Urban Baby Beginnings is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving maternal and infant health outcomes by providing wraparound support services for expecting and postpartum families. Through its network of Maternal/Perinatal Health Hubs, the organization works to create equitable access to high-quality care and resources for families across Virginia. Learn more at http://www.urbanbabybeginnings.org.
