Nationwide — According to the World Health Organization, 800 mothers die every day from preventable causes during pregnancy and childbirth. In the U.S., Black mothers are more than 3.5 times more likely to face this tragedy. Despite advances in healthcare and technology, Black maternal deaths are at their highest rate in decades.
This is a completely avoidable crisis that one veteran labor and delivery nurse is refusing to ignore. Aneesha Smith, a registered nurse with nearly a quarter century of clinical labor and birthing experience, is taking action. Using her own funds, she has created Kindred Connect, an ecosystem to support mothers inside and outside the delivery room by launching an online environment to raise awareness, support doulas, uplift childbirth educators, and provide spaces for maternal health professionals who care for Black families before, during, and after birth.
“I’ve seen it firsthand for over 20 years — Black mothers aren’t being heard, and it’s our babies and families who pay the price,” Smith says. “Now, I’ve chosen to raise the alarm and build systems that support the very people who support our mothers.”
In a landscape where Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes, Smith’s approach tackles the crisis from multiple angles—leveraging her healthcare expertise and entrepreneurial skills to empower birth workers who can directly improve outcomes.
Smith understands firsthand what it means to manage family at home while caring for families at work. As the founder of Reflections By Zana, a seven-figure online healthcare accessories brand she started while working as a nurse, she employed her own children in the online business, blending entrepreneurship with legacy-building and modeling what it means to serve with purpose.
At the center of her most recent mission is Kindred Connections 360: Maternal Health Hub, an online directory and community that increases visibility for birth workers, offers free business resources, and creates spaces for professionals to connect and collaborate. It pairs with Kindred Connect, a business management platform that helps maternal health professionals manage 80% of their business in one place, with tools to welcome and manage new clients, handle money confidently, track care statistics, and build and maintain websites.
“In a world overflowing with tech tools, this helps birth workers run sustainable practices while keeping their focus on the families they serve,” something Smith says is the goal in every resource she creates.
“Passion drives many of the women who choose this hard, emotionally charged work,” Smith notes. “But many of us are so focused on our purpose that we work ourselves to exhaustion and burnout.”
The need for sustainable support is critical. Studies show community-based doulas and birth workers face a burnout rate of just three years. Coupled with feeling unwelcome in hospital settings, being underpaid, facing slow reimbursement for their services, and lacking resources for growth, many leave the field despite high community need.
“In the past few months, we’ve helped therapists, doulas, and newborn care specialists think beyond daily tasks and build stronger, lasting practices. We can’t truly care for others if we’re running on empty ourselves,” Smith says.
To further help close this gap, Smith founded All Year AI for Health and Wellness Businesses, a community where maternal health professionals, wellness providers, and educators can learn how AI can support their daily work without losing the personal touch families expect.
“Many have never taken a business course or can’t afford the tools needed to keep their practice running,” Smith says. “Most don’t realize they can leverage AI to do more with less.”
The online classes show providers how to use AI and technology to handle daily business tasks, stay organized, and save time while balancing family and growing a sustainable practice.
Smith is funding these initiatives herself to ensure that maternal health professionals can access the tools and community they need without being priced out.
“There isn’t much business guidance out there for perinatal business owners, and I want them to see how they can do something impactful and sustainable, without investing thousands of dollars to start.”
Due to her commitment to business-building initiatives and nurse entrepreneurial impact, Smith was recently appointed Board Director of Research and Technology for the Perinatal Resource Collaborative, furthering the mission of community collaboration and better maternal health outcomes. In this community-based role, she is committed to advancing research and technology adoption that improve care for families while supporting the professionals who serve them.
“It’s not enough to tell doulas and birth workers to ‘start a business’ and expect them to fix the maternal health crisis alone,” Smith says. “We need to equip them with tech, visibility, and strategy so they can thrive financially while serving families who need them most,” she starts. “Because with all of the changes happening in hospitals and healthcare right now, we can’t afford any more roadblocks to being trusted providers in our communities. Our families need us, and we should prepare to serve them in the best way possible.”
Learn More and Connect:
• Kindred Connect – An affordable, easy-to-use business management platform that helps maternal health professionals manage 80% of their practice in one place, from client intake and payments to website management.
• Kindred Connections 360: Maternal Health Hub – An online directory and community designed to increase visibility for birth workers, offer free business resources, and provide spaces for connection and collaboration.
• All Year AI Community – A learning community for health and wellness professionals to explore practical, human-centered ways to use AI and technology to save time and build sustainable practices without losing their personal touch.
For press and partnership inquiries, contact aneesha@kindredconnect.io
