About Us
Providing maternal hub infrastructure and community support services for pregnant and parenting families
Urban Baby Beginnings® is Virginia’s first and leading nonprofit to build maternal and perinatal health hub infrastructure — delivering direct services while transforming systems of care for pregnant and parenting families across the Commonwealth.
Our Vision
UBB's vision is that every person of childbearing age in the United States has access to a high-quality, culturally tailored maternal/perinatal health hub.
Our Mission
Our mission is to reduce adverse outcomes and isolation experienced by families during the prenatal, postpartum and early childhood years by increasing access to perinatal health hubs which provide community support, workforce development, and advocacy for prenatal and postpartum families and their children.
Our guiding principle to “improve the lives of those we serve,” has been and will continue to be our promise to families who need us.
Our Beliefs
Urban Baby Beginnings® believes that all women should be trusted to make choices that are best for them
The lack of access to the support needed to improve and maintain one's health is detrimental to the health of the community
Honoring culture and its influence is paramount to addressing health and wellness
Community-led solutions are necessary for true community transformation
Who We Are
Urban Baby Beginnings® (UBB) is a community-rooted organization dedicated to ensuring that every woman of childbearing age has access to high-quality, compassionate, and culturally relevant maternal care. For more than three decades, we’ve walked alongside mothers, fathers, and families—listening, advocating, and delivering the care that every parent and newborn deserves.
Today, UBB leads Virginia’s Maternal Health Hub system, connecting families, hospitals, providers, and community-based organizations into a seamless local care network - the perinatal health hub. Through our hubs in Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News, Petersburg, and Roanoke, and telehealth platform ReByrth®, we make care accessible where families live, work, and grow.
Why It Matters
Too many families in Virginia face barriers to safe pregnancy and birth. Maternal mortality and morbidity rates remain unacceptably high, with disproportionate impacts on under-resourced communities. UBB was founded to change that reality—by addressing both the medical and social needs of families and by honoring the lived experiences of mothers in shaping care.
When families engage with UBB's maternal hub system and local UBB perinatal health hubs, they experience:
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Lower stress and isolation through trusted support networks
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Stronger outcomes in breastfeeding, postpartum recovery, and newborn health
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Reduced rehospitalization and avoidable complications
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Access to essential resources like diapers, nutrition, and safe sleep education
Our Impact
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4,500+ families served statewide in 2024 through coordinated hub care
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13 community-based partners engaged in shared data and care alignment
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95% of families achieved safe postpartum transitions through hub-based navigation
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Integrated diaper distribution through 20 diaper banks statewide as part of our holistic care model
- Statewide implementation of the Maternal Health Hub System, ensuring uniform quality, data visibility, and accountability
Our Commitment
We believe that safer births are not partisan—they are personal. UBB connects policy, practice, and people to make maternal and infant health safer for everyone.
UBB is committed to:
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Respectful, non-judgmental care
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Listening to and amplifying mothers’ voices
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Building trust across communities and health systems
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Creating lasting change so that families thrive
Join Us
Whether you are a parent, a provider, or a partner, there’s a place for you in this work. Together we can build safer childbirth cities, strengthen families, and transform maternal health in Virginia and beyond.
Our Founder
Urban Baby Beginnings was founded by Stephanie Spencer who has been a strong advocate in promoting safer motherhood and newborn health. She is a Registered Nurse, Perinatal Educator, and Doula. Read more about her story and background.
Meet Our Team
We are forging critical links between healthcare providers and our own communities – the mothers, perinatal specialists and doulas who are trained in culturally sensitive ways to not only provide every-step-of-the-way guidance for the moms but, importantly, as their advocates as well.