How Antonia & Grace Began.
Our founder, Rose, is Antonia's daughter. Rose is also a nurse, a nurse leader and mom. A nationally recognized maternal health expert, Rose began an initiative called, "Not on My Watch". This nurse training program was designed to help clinicians see and address the behaviors and implicit bias that puts Black birthing people at risk. This passion for saving the lives Black mothers led to many opportunities to engage with people from many facets of life, and this is where Rose met our other founder, Marie (the link to the other name in our company’s legacy. Marie is Grace's daughter). Marie had become an advocate for women’s health after learning, firsthand, how scary pregnancy complications could be and realized the glaring need for Black women to have access to evidence-based guidance and support when navigating the complexities of the healthcare system. The two bonded, and a company was born.
Meet Rose…
Rose L. Horton, MSM, RNC-OB, NEA-BC is a passionate nurse with over two decades of experience ensuring that patients are treated with equity and respect.
Since nursing school, Rose knew serving the medical needs of moms and babies was her calling. As a result, she built her career in obstetrics and is active in all areas of her specialty including professional associations. As a member of the Association of Women’s Health Obstetrics & Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), Rose has served on several committees, including Board Member, and she was the first Black person to be elected as president of the association in 2012.
The growing crisis of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States led Rose to create a movement for nurses called, #notonmywatch. This initiative provides education on the impact of implicit bias on patient care, and challenges nurses to be accountable for their patient interactions. The hashtag went viral and became a movement that Rose remains committed to expanding.
In 2021, Rose was tapped by the Biden administration to join the Black Maternal Health Stakeholder group. This partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services, the March of Dimes, and the National Birth Equity Collaborative is charged with guiding the administration's efforts toward mitigating Black maternal morbidity and mortality.
Rose also received a request from U.S. News & World Reports to join a group of experts in maternal and perinatal quality measurement to create a survey for their since published list of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.
The founder and CEO of Antonia & Grace, Rose leads this public benefit corporation as the team strives to mitigate the impact of bias in healthcare by supporting the Black birthing community via a culturally fluent ecosystem with Nurse Navigators, Doulas, and Lactation Consultants.
Meet Marie…
Prior to joining Rose in launching Antonia & Grace, Marie enjoyed a 35+ year career in marketing, medical sales, and a variety of communications’ roles with Mead Johnson Nutrition. There Marie spent a number of years in a variety of roles where she worked with physicians, nurses, researchers and other healthcare professionals at some of the largest medical facilities in the world. During which she built meaningful alliances with those specializing in obstetrics, pediatrics and healthcare policy. Many of whom became lifelong friends.
As a mother and grandmother, Marie is incredibly passionate about addressing the maternal mortality crisis for Black birthing people. She says, “When my daughter told me she and her husband were pregnant, I joyfully celebrated with them. Then, when we hung up, I wept. Yes, with joy because I was thrilled by the prospect of grandchildren (they were expecting twins). But I was also incredibly afraid for my daughter’s wellbeing. The fact that Black women are three to four times more likely to die of a pregnancy-related death than white women stole the joy I should have relished as a future grandmother. I also knew my daughter’s master’s degree and the fact that her husband is an attorney was little protection. Because sadly, a Black mother with a college education is at 60 percent greater risk for a maternal death than a white or Hispanic woman with less than a high school education.
It was this trepidation that led Marie to reach out to her network of healthcare professional friends to ask for their help during her daughter’s pregnancy. She half-jokingly says her daughter (Grace) essentially had the Who’s Who in Medicine as her care team. From a dear friend who is a retired perinatologist who became Grace’s navigator and scheduled a FaceTime call with her almost weekly. To a nurse practitioner who stepped in and served as Grace’s doula, to the perinatologist who was hand-picked to serve as Grace’s primary care physician.
It was this experience that prompted Marie to immediately agree to fully support Rose when she began to craft the concept that is now, Antonia & Grace. She knew from experience that a carefully curated team could truly make a critical difference.
Marie says, “Of course, while we don’t provide our moms direct access to the country’s top doctors, but Antonia & Grace does provide access a to a highly qualified nurse navigator who will shepherd mom through her pregnancy. Our culturally humble team ensures there is a compassionate doula to advocate for mom and baby at birth, and we provide much needed lactation support mom’s breastfeeding journey and postpartum care during the critical 4th trimester.
In short, we’ve built an ecosystem that valiantly works to mitigate the many factors that lead to Black birthing people suffering horrific pregnancy and birth experiences.
I saw a quote once, ‘Giving birth should be your greatest achievement not your greatest fear.’ I think it should be: Giving birth should be your greatest JOY, not your greatest fear.
I firmly believe the work we do ensures our moms have a joyous birth experience.”
Grace & the twins at 5 months
Antonia & Grace is a public-benefit corporation that is fully committed to donating a portion of our profits to initiatives that address the needs of women and children.