What Guides Our Work

  • Aya Birth & Community Wellness envisions a future where culturally affirming, community-rooted care is the standard - advancing equitable access and improved outcomes for all families.

  • As North Carolina’s only Black-owned and midwife-led birth center, Aya Birth & Community Wellness works to transform maternal and reproductive health by providing culturally affirming, community-centered care that expands access, improves outcomes and honors the needs of families most impacted by health inequities.

  • Safety

    Safety is foundational to everything we do. Aya prioritizes clinical excellence, evidence-based care, strong protocols, and ongoing quality improvement to ensure that families receive care that is both compassionate and medically sound.

    Community

    Aya was built by and for the community. Our work is grounded in relationships, trust, and accountability to the families we serve. We collaborate with local partners, listen to community needs, and design care models that reflect the real lives of those in our community.

    People First

    We center people over policies, dignity over convenience, and relationships over volume. Every client, family, and staff member is treated as a whole human being, with autonomy, voice, and the right to informed, respectful care.

    Sankofa

    We honor the wisdom of those who came before us while building sustainable systems for the future. Aya draws from ancestral knowledge, traditional midwifery, and community care practices, carrying those lessons forward to strengthen modern, high-quality care.

    Cultural Congruence

    Our care aligns with the lived experiences, identities, and values of the communities we serve. We provide culturally-affirming, trauma-informed care that respects language, tradition, family structure, spirituality, and personal choice.

    Black Ownership

    Aya is Black-led and Black-owned, grounded in lived experience and accountability to BIPOC families. Our leadership model ensures that decision-making power, resources, and vision remain within the community most impacted by maternal health inequities.

    Reproductive Justice

    We believe people have the right to bodily autonomy, safe pregnancy and birth, access to comprehensive reproductive care, and the ability to parent in healthy communities. Aya’s work addresses clinical care as well as the systems and structures that shape reproductive outcomes.

     

Learn About Care

“When a woman births, not only is a baby being born but so is a mother. How we treat her will affect how she feels about herself as a mother and as a parent.

Be gentle. Be kind. Listen.”

― Ruth Ehrhardt, The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour

Meet the Team

Tina Braimah, Certified Nurse Midwife & Herbalist

Tina Braimah, MSN, CNM, CPM, is a midwife, herbalist and advocate for BIPOC birthing people. She is the founder and Executive Director of Aya Birth & Community Wellness, the only CABC accredited, Black-midwife led birth center in North Carolina. With over 25 years in women’s health and a legacy of “firsts” behind her, Tina is a leading voice for reproductive justice and birth equity.

Tina’s work as an herbalist is another way that she is reclaiming wellness and autonomy for the community. Her herbal education has been a combination of self-instruction, ancestral guidance, and course offerings from various herbal programs and instructors.  Tina has a passion for midwifery and community herbalism that comes across in everything she does, from gardening and cooking to caring for her husband and four children, who were all born with the assistance of midwives.  Tina uses her intuition and knowledge of midwifery and herbs to provide holistic care to her clients. She is excited to pass the knowledge on to others and is committed to honoring and preserving the traditions of her foremothers.

Tina’s work blends clinical expertise, ancestral traditions and community wisdom, to reimagine change systems that shape Black maternal and infant health in North Carolina and beyond.

Markelle Powell, Administrative Assistant

Markelle Powell is an experienced administrative and project management professional with more than 15 years of experience in the education field. A native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Composition from North Carolina State University and began her career as a classroom teacher before moving into project management within high-stakes educational assessment.

Markelle brings strong organizational skills, clear communication, and a deep understanding of complex systems to her role at Aya Birth & Community Wellness. She supports the administrative and operational needs of the organization with care, efficiency, and attention to detail. Based in Durham, she enjoys travel, the arts, and cooking for family and friends.

Erica Wade, Registered Nurse

Erica Wade is a registered nurse currently completing her nurse-midwifery and women’s health nurse practitioner training. She assists with births and primarily conducts postpartum home visits.

Erica believes that all people are deserving of evidence-based care through which they feel safe, seen and cared for. She aims to make shared decision-making a central part of her care so that every clinical encounter is centered on your personal health goals. She brings observational and problem-solving skills from many years in the biotech industry, which she feels are helpful in her new role in midwifery and women’s health. Erica is certified in CPR, NRP, fetal monitoring, IUD placement/removal, and Nexplanon insertion/removal.

Erica holds a BS in Chemistry from East Carolina University and a BS in Nursing from North Carolina Central University, where she was class Valedictorian. As a nurse, she has been nominated for the Daisy Award several times for her care and attentiveness toward her patients. When she is not in clinic, Erica can be found spending time hiking with her husband and children, baking, or teaching children’s or youth programming at her church.