• In Minnesota, 4-6% of women who come under correctional control in Minnesota are pregnant.

• In 2010, under the fiscal sponsorship of Everyday Miracles, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit, the Minnesota Prison Doula Project (MNPDP) formally began supporting birthing people in the Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF)-Shakopee, offering weekly prenatal and parenting education and support groups uniquely tailored to the experiences and needs of incarcerated mothers.

• The Minnesota Prison Doula Project was founded to support incarcerated pregnant women through pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. This project became one of the first in the U.S. to offer such services, setting a precedent for similar initiatives in other states.

• In November 2010, a MNPDP doula attended the first birth of an incarcerated woman in the state of Minnesota.

• That same year, Dr. Rebecca Shlafer from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Pediatrics partnered with the program to measure and evaluate outcomes and participant experiences.

• In time, participants brought their experiences in county jails to our attention and urged us to explore expansion.

• In 2012, we engaged with jail administrators throughout Minnesota to systematically collect information about policies and practices in these facilities, uncovering a gap in programming and resources for pregnant women and mothers, and in some cases, human rights violations and pregnancy losses that resulted from lack of access to care.

• In 2014, MNPDP expanded pregnancy and parenting programming to the two largest jail facilities in the state and began working with our first adolescent incarcerated female.

• In 2015, the MNPDP partnered with the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota with the goal of becoming an independent nonprofit, enhancing our capacity to scale, and putting us on a trajectory for greater impact.

• That same year, MNPDP was invited by the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) to explore a prison doula project at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. During that visit, with the support of ADOC Deputy Commissioner Dr. Wendy Williams, the work began to support local doulas as they founded a prison doula project.

• By the end of 2015, the Alabama Prison Birth Project was established, focusing on providing education and doula support to incarcerated women. Their success and advocacy efforts demonstrated the positive impact of such programs, garnering attention from other states.

• In the Constitution of United States of America, the 8th Amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The goal of project EightA is to explore and create new patterns of thought, policy, and practice pertaining to justice-involved women and their children that are constitutionally-aligned and rooted in human rights-based standards.

• Several projects are incubated in eightA, including our collaboration with research partners, the Oregon Prison Birth Project, the Wisconsin Prison Birth Project, and our collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The Ostara Initiative was created as a collaborative effort to expand perinatal care and support for incarcerated women across the U.S. By connecting with both the MN PDP and the AL PBP, Ostara played a pivotal role in promoting the idea that all incarcerated pregnant individuals deserve compassionate and comprehensive care.

• In 2023, advocates, including those linked to the Ostara Initiative, successfully lobbied for Oregon House Bill 2535. This law mandated the Oregon Department of Corrections to allow incarcerated pregnant women access to doula services. The bill was a key milestone in paving the way for the Oregon Prison Doula Project.

• In 2024, after years of advocacy and collaboration with organizations like the Ostara Initiative, Seeding Justice helped plant the financial seed to allow doulas to enter prisons and support incarcerated women during childbirth. They funded this initiative when we were a mere idea. This was a huge milestone which opened the door to our work in the facility.

• In 2024, the Oregon Prison Doula Project celebrated its first doula-assisted birth in an Oregon prison, marking a significant achievement in providing comprehensive perinatal care to incarcerated women in the state.

• Launched in 2025, the Wisconsin Prison Birth Project (WPBP) of the Ostara Initiative supports pregnant and postpartum people in Wisconsin’s correctional system.

• Led by doulas and advocates with lived experience, the program offers prenatal education, birth and postpartum support, lactation assistance, and parenting groups. Rooted in trauma-informed and culturally responsive care, the WPBP works to uphold dignity, improve health outcomes, and strengthen family bonds for incarcerated parents and their children.