— Orientation —

Yemaya · The Codex

The network of the Labora Collective.

Owned, built, and run by women of color.

01
— Where we are —

Three things are happening at once.

None of them are accidents.

01 — Policy

The crisis is manufactured.

  • $900B cut from Medicaid, signed July 4, 2025. Medicaid funds 42% of US births.Congressional Budget Office · OBBBA §71113
  • $65.8M Title X funding frozen, March 31, 2025 — defunding 879 clinics across 23 states.HHS · Office of Population Affairs
  • Black maternal mortality: 3.5× the white rate, and widening. PRAMS was dismantled April 2025 — we're flying with the instruments off.CDC · PRAMS
02 — Suppression

You speak — they suppress you.

  • Facebook organic reach: 16% → 2.6%. An 84% decline. Not because content got worse — because the platform realized it could charge for access to people who already chose to follow you.Hootsuite / We Are Social
  • Black Instagram users 50% more likely to have accounts disabled. Meta's own internal research. Management suppressed the findings.Meta internal · Washington Post 2021
  • UnitedHealth's clinical AI gave Black patients 50% less care at the same level of need. Algorithmic bias is in medicine too.Obermeyer et al., Science 2019
03 — Extraction

You build — they extract from you.

  • Black creators earn 34% less than white creators for equivalent work. Southeast Asian creators earn 57% less.MSL Group · The Influencer League 2023
  • Black founders received 0.4% of all US venture capital in 2024. McKinsey: $1–1.5T/yr cost to the economy.Crunchbase · McKinsey Global Institute
  • Substack at ~$650M valuation needs $100M+ ARR to satisfy investors. Most writers can't earn enough to buy lunch.Stratechery · public Substack disclosures

That is not a marketplace. That is an extraction system.
We are not waiting. We are building our own road.

02
— What it costs women —

The system fails women twice.

— Clinically —

Women dying preventably.

3.62 / 100k — homicide is the leading cause of pregnancy-associated death.

3.2× — Black women die at 44.8 vs. white women at 14.2.

84–93% — share preventable per CDC review committees.

— As creators —

Voices suppressed by algorithms.

Algorithms suppress women of color, reproductive health voices, and Black creators.

The platforms degrade your reach the moment you pay them.

The institutions are not coming back. The platforms were never coming.

We are responding to both.

03
— Structural moat —

Why we can build this when no VC-funded platform can.

A VC-funded competitor is locked into a chain that ends in suppression:

01

VC funding

Requires growth to satisfy a valuation.

02

Growth pressure

Requires extraction — take rates, ads, engagement.

03

Extraction

Requires algorithms to maximize revenue per user.

04

Algorithms

Suppress voices the system doesn't reward.

We're self-funded. We don't need that chain. A competitor would have to give up the valuation that funded them.

04
— What we built —

One company. Two halves. One network.

A platform. Not a publisher. The Bloomberg of women's health.

— The company —

Diosa Ara

Physician-led. Independent of investor pressure — which means we can build for the women we serve, not the valuation we're chasing.

— The platform —

Labora Collective

Self-funded publishing platform. Cross-subsidy by design — LC funds DA's clinical mission. Built so women's health voices can actually grow.

— The network —

Yemaya · The Codex

LC's professional membership arm. Yoruba goddess of the sea, mother of all. Home for clinicians, doulas, midwives, journalists, columnists, podcasters, and advocates.

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— How Yemaya is organized —

Two paths into the Codex.

Both are anti-extractive. No VC. No algorithm running against you.

— Path 01 —

By invitation

Six tiers of invited partnership. Free in exchange for clinical or editorial contribution and distribution.

For practitioners, researchers, organizations, and media that we name and recruit directly.

"Nazis, racists, rapists, and toxic misogynists not welcome. We don't believe in free speech as a business model. We believe in uplifting women."

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— Path 01 — by invitation —

The six invited tiers.

Free. In exchange for distribution and clinical contribution.

Tier 1

Clinical Advisor

Clinicians and researchers. Review one Labora Rounds report per quarter. Receive early access + full LC membership.

Tier 2

Clinical Contributor

Clinicians, birth workers, and patients. Submit written pieces or voice notes for publication in LC journals with editorial support and bylined publication.

Tier 3

Clinical Partner

Organizations with their own audiences — doula collectives, etc. Distribute LC content and co-host events. Five institutional seats + content licensing rights.

Tier 4

Strategic Partner

Major institutions and foundations. Co-develop research and clinical frameworks. Co-ownership credit + custom Labora Rounds intelligence.

Tier 5

Institutional Partner

Hospital networks and large training programs. License LC content for deployment across their systems at scale, under enterprise terms.

Tier 6

Media Partner

Journalists, podcasters, columnists, bulletin publishers, investigative reporters with their own audiences. Co-publish long-form, investigative, op-ed work. First-class members.

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— Path 02 + marketplace + co-development —

What runs the economics.

Three membership tiers. A marketplace. A revenue share.

Member

$35 / moor $350 / yr

Full vault access · marketplace listing · early event invitations.

Pro

$65 / moor $650 / yr

Adds publication priority, clinical briefings, professional resource library.

Organization

$129 / moor $1,290 / yr

For small collectives. Five seats + co-branding for client handouts.

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— For non-CPN partners —

If you'd rather build than publish.

For practitioners with a business, not a thesis. Pick one. Stack if you want.

— Builder · 01 · The wedge —

Hosted microsite

Your content, your branding, your links. We host, deploy, maintain. Most birth workers want a professional web presence — not to write essays.

— Builder · 02 · Newsletter —

Your list on our infrastructure

Either a recurring section in the LC newsletter, or your own list under our shared Beehiiv account. Your brand. Your sender. We handle deliverability.

— Builder · 03 · Bundle —

Reader-curated bundle

Every Tier 3 creator in the pool. Readers compose individual bundles by picking. Earnings scale linearly with how many readers pick you. Floor for the first 6 months.

Creators keep 100% of off-platform income. We don't take from what you already earn.

09
— How partners build with us —

Four ways onto the platform.

Pick the one that fits your day. Stack if you want.

— Builder · Tier 1 · The wedge —

Hosted microsite

Your content, your branding, your links. We host, deploy, maintain. Most birth workers want a professional web presence — not to write essays.

— Builder · Tier 2 · Newsletter —

Your list on our infrastructure

Either a recurring section in the LC newsletter, or your own list under our shared Beehiiv account. Your brand. Your sender. We handle deliverability.

— Builder · Tier 3 · Bundle —

Reader-curated bundle

Every Tier 3 creator in the pool. Readers compose individual bundles by picking. Earnings scale linearly with how many readers pick you. Floor for the first 6 months.

— CPN · The clinical voice —

Clinical Partners Network

Six invited tiers, three open tiers. Editorial publishing path. One piece of clinical intelligence per quarter. 60/40 revenue share in your favor on co-created products.

Creators keep 100% of off-platform income. We don't take from what you already earn.

05
— Why we asked you —

We built this with you in mind.

Not "everyone is welcome." Built with you in mind is different. It's the structural commitment, not the marketing line.

10
— What's already shipping —

A few examples.

A sample. Not a list.

— Intelligence —

Crisis to Care

14-chapter intelligence report. Visual essay live. Audio + book + app shipping next.

— The library —

Intelligence Briefs

Seven topic-bound briefs — Disability, Menopause, Oncology, Climate, Media, Gynecology, Crisis to Care.

— Education · live —

Doula Field Guide

30 modules · 4 tiers · 150 assessments. $29 / $69. Live for sale at fieldguide.laboracollective.com.

— Curriculum —

Power & Pleasure

Sexual wellness platform — essays, exercises, 12-week clinical programs.

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— What happens next —

Now we build it together.

— Now —

The moment we're in

Alternative care infrastructure for the post-Dobbs reproductive health crisis. Building what comes next during the crisis — not after.

— After —

The bigger thesis

How to care for minoritized populations without waiting for institutions. A platform that funds the clinical mission — instead of extracting from it.

Apply or learn more.

cpn.laboracollective.com

Begin Your Application
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