Sankofa Birth & Women's Care

What Sankofa Birth & Women's Care does

Aya Birth & Community Wellness, operating under the legal entity Sankofa Birth & Women's Care PLLC, is a Durham, North Carolina-based midwifery practice providing culturally affirming, community-rooted reproductive and birth care. Its service portfolio spans the full reproductive lifespan — prenatal care, birth center and home birth, postpartum and newborn care, placenta encapsulation, herbal wellness, and reproductive/well-person care — delivered directly by a team of midwives led by Tina, with Melvay also referenced in client testimonials. The practice's model is distinguished by continuity-of-care relationships (clients see the same midwives throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum), a culturally specific framework grounded in African American knowledge systems and reproductive justice, and an explicit focus on families historically underserved by mainstream obstetric care. The organization also operates the Sankofa Birth Fund (a donation-based program supporting birth access for underserved families) and is affiliated with Legacy Birth Academy, a separate community education and training organization sharing the practice's mission.\n\nThe business operates from a single physical location at 1412 Hudson Avenue in Durham, with an employee base sized at 11-50. Revenue is generated through direct-fee professional services paid by individual families; pricing is not publicly disclosed and prospective clients are routed through a website intake form (Start Care with Aya). The go-to-market model is community-rooted and trust-based, relying on word-of-mouth referrals, testimonials, donor/volunteer networks, and organic social/website presence rather than paid advertising. The firm is privately held, with no disclosed institutional investors, parent entity, funding rounds, or acquisitions, and does not report revenue, headcount trends, or ownership structure.

Name

Sankofa Birth & Women's Care

Legal name

Aya Birth & Community Wellness

Website

https://sankofabirth.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aya Birth & Community Wellness (Sankofa Birth & Women's Care PLLC) is a Durham, NC midwifery practice providing culturally affirming prenatal, birth center, home birth, postpartum, and reproductive care to families historically underserved by mainstream healthcare.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Midwifery and Birth Center Services

NAICS

Ambulatory Health Care Services (621)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Maternal/Newborn & Postpartum Skilled Home Visits (HSABACAK)

Keywords

• Midwifery care
• Birth center services
• Home birth services
• Prenatal care
• Postpartum care

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Midwifery and Birth Center Services: Direct-fee healthcare services covering prenatal care, birth center birth, home birth, postpartum care, newborn care, placenta encapsulation, herbal wellness consultations, and reproductive/well-person care. Revenue is generated through direct patient service fees. The organization also accepts donations through the Sankofa Birth Fund to support birth access for underserved families.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sankofa Birth & Women's Care (Aya Birth & Community Wellness) is a private midwifery and women's care practice delivering culturally affirming, community-rooted care across the reproductive lifespan. It provides prenatal care, birth center and home birth services, postpartum and newborn care, placenta encapsulation, herbal wellness, and reproductive and well-person care. Care is delivered directly by a small team of midwives out of a Durham, NC birth center and via home visits to families in the surrounding North Carolina area.

Product overview

Aya Birth & Community Wellness is a community-rooted midwifery and reproductive healthcare practice offering a unified suite of culturally affirming services across the reproductive lifespan. The core service portfolio centers on Pregnancy Care (Prenatal Care), Birth Center and Home Birth services, Postpartum & Newborn Care, Herbal Wellness, and Reproductive & Well-Person Care. Add-on services include Placenta Encapsulation. The organization also operates the Sankofa Birth Fund as a foundation/donation program to support birth access, and partners with Legacy Birth Academy for educational initiatives. All services are grounded in midwifery wisdom, evidence-based practice, and reproductive justice principles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pregnancy Care (Prenatal Care) Comprehensive prenatal care services providing culturally affirming, relationship-based healthcare throughout pregnancy for expecting individuals and families.
• Birth Center Birth Evidence-based alternative to hospital birth for healthy, low-risk pregnancies, offering a calm, supportive environment with professional midwifery care and water birth options.
• Home Birth Midwife-attended home birth services allowing families to welcome their babies in the comfort of their own home with professional medical support.
• Postpartum & Newborn Care Comprehensive postpartum and newborn care services supporting families through the critical early weeks after birth with personalized, non-judgmental care.
• Placenta Encapsulation (Placenta Remedies) Placenta encapsulation and remedy services, including placenta prints, as part of postpartum recovery support.
• Herbal Wellness Herbal wellness services integrated into reproductive and birth care using traditional plant-based remedies.
• Reproductive & Well-Person Care Reproductive healthcare services across the lifespan including well-person exams and reproductive health care.

Quantifiable outcome

• Lower cesarean rates compared to hospital births for low-risk pregnancies
• +3 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Legacy Birth AcademycoreOthersA separate but closely aligned community education and training organization also rooted in reproductive justice. Legacy Birth Academy extends the reach of birth and reproductive health education beyond Aya's direct client base, building community capacity and awareness. The two organizations appear to share founders or a common mission, with Legacy Birth Academy listed alongside Aya's services as a linked resource. The relationship is community-oriented rather than commercial.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• The Farm Midwifery Center: Long-running, nationally recognized midwifery center in Summertown, TN. A foundational player in the U.S. out-of-hospital birth movement; comparable midwifery service model with established national brand recognition.

Emerging players

• Commonsense Childbirth: National model for culturally-congruent Black maternal-health midwifery care founded by Jennie Joseph. Highly comparable mission and demographic focus, though it operates more as a training/advocacy organization with clinical sites across multiple states.

Others

• National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM): National professional association representing CPMs and the midwifery community. Not a competitor, but a relevant industry/ecosystem organization influencing licensure, scope of practice, and reimbursement that directly affect Aya's operating environment.

Direct peers

• Roots Community Birth Center: Community-rooted midwifery birth center in Minneapolis serving a comparable demographic profile. Operates a similar midwife-led model with focus on culturally-affirming care and community access.
• Special Beginnings Birth & Women's Center: Birth center in Annapolis, MD providing midwifery, birth center, and home birth services. Direct service-model peer in a comparable regional market.
• The Birth Center of Bloomington-Normal: Midwife-led birth center offering prenatal, birth, postpartum, and well-person care in Illinois. Comparable integrated midwifery service portfolio serving a similar community scale.
• Dar a Luz Birth & Health Center: Community-rooted midwifery birth center in Albuquerque, NM serving a demographically and culturally diverse population. Comparable integrated midwifery service model with a similar community-mission orientation.
• Breath of Life Women's Health & Birth Center: Established birth center in Largo, FL providing midwifery, birth center, and home birth services. Direct midwifery-service peer with a longer operating history and broader service line.
• Women's Birth & Wellness Center: Midwifery-led birth center in Chapel Hill, NC — the closest direct geographic competitor. Operates the same midwife/birth-center/postpartum service model in the adjacent Triangle market and competes for the same pool of NC families seeking out-of-hospital birth.

Regional players

• Mountain Midwifery Center: Birth center practice in Asheville, NC offering midwife-attended birth center and home birth. Same midwifery model but serves a different western-NC geographic market, making it a regional rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sankofabirthandwomenscare

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sankofa Birth & Women's Care