Maternal mortality rates in the United States continue to far exceed those of other high-income nations. U.S. maternal mortality is lowest for Asian American women and highest for Black women. Disparities in maternal health outcomes are rooted in the development of social and political structures that exist in the United States today – which stem from racism, classism, and gender oppression. Research suggests that socioeconomic and systemic challenges are especially linked to pregnancy-related death disparities among American Indian, Alaska Native, and non-Hispanic Black women.

A collaboration between the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) and Kimberly Seals Allers, The Restoration Project (TRP) ensures equitable access to donor milk while addressing historic structural barriers to breastfeeding and optimal infant nutrition.

By centering the needs of vulnerable infants and empowering communities, TRP provides an essential model for restorative justice in healthcare that offers tangible support to families in need, while fostering community healing and equity.

Moreover, historical and cultural stigma is linked to breastfeeding disparities and inequities in Black communities. For example, during enslavement, Black women were systematically denied the opportunity to breastfeed their own children as they were forced to serve as wet nurses for white families.

The practice of wet nursing continued through the Jim Crow era, perpetuating cycles of systemic harm and malnourishment among Black children. TRP acknowledges the historical exploitation of Black women during enslavement and beyond, when they were forced to breastfeed others’ children — often at the expense of their own.

Despite these injustices, Black women played a critical role in sustaining generations of children in America. The Restoration Project honors this painful history by ensuring that medically vulnerable infants impacted by maternal mortality receive life-sustaining donor milk.

As maternal mortality rates have risen in the United States, many families are left to not only grieve the loss of the mother, but also provide a primary source of nutrition to the newborn — breast milk.

The Restoration Project represents a powerful step toward addressing childbirth-related maternal loss and its generational impact. Join us in ensuring that no infant goes without the life-sustaining nourishment of human milk during their most vulnerable moments.