Reimagining Birth Through Design
Please join us for an evening dedicated to reimagining how we welcome life into the world. Through thoughtful design of spaces, systems, tools, and lived experiences, we can transform pregnancy, labor, and postpartum care into experiences that are more humane, equitable, and deeply supportive.
Reimagining Birth Through Design convenes leaders in health, innovation, and human-centered design to explore how creativity, collaboration, and courage can reshape maternal care. Together, we will examine how the environments we build—and the systems we sustain—profoundly influence birth outcomes, provider wellbeing, and community health.
The evening begins with an interactive Educational Expo and networking reception, creating space for connection, shared learning, and new partnerships. Presentations by Kim Holden, AIA, CABD, Founder of Doula x Design, and Deb Polzin-Rosenberg, RN, AIA, Founder of Better Birth Design, will illuminate how design can challenge outdated models and inspire more responsive approaches to care.
The program will conclude with a forward-looking conversation on Maine’s maternal health crisis and pathways toward transformation. Lisa Sockabasin, MS, RN, Co-CEO of Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness, will reflect on the power of integrating Indigenous knowledge with Western medicine to restore balance, dignity, and community-centered care. The discussion will be facilitated by Shaw Innovation Fellow Emily Battye (ABSN-Accelerated Nursing ’26).
This gathering is an invitation—to imagine differently, to learn from one another, and to build systems that honor families, strengthen providers, and nurture both human and planetary health. Together, we will spotlight promising solutions and explore culturally responsive, evidence-informed approaches that can shape the future of care in Maine and beyond.
About Kim: "I am an architect, doula, lactation counselor, design consultant, and educator. My focus is the intersection of design and birth and the impact that environment has on experiences, outcomes, disparities, and mortality, during the entire perinatal period.
Prior to founding Doula x Design, I was a Founder and the Managing Principal at , an internationally renowned architecture firm based in NYC, for over 20 years, and was the at Yale University for the 2023-2024 academic year, teaching a graduate level studio on spaces of birth.
I am trained, a (CABD), and a ). I am fluent in labor comfort and progress techniques and a Professional Member of receiving frequent continuing education on the best practices in the field. I am on the Board of Directors of , co-founder of the , and a member of the and the .
I am a registered architect (RA) in the State of New York and a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). I have participated in architectural juries at several universities including Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Art Institute of Chicago, Berkeley, and University of Maine, and lectured at University of Toronto, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Boston Architectural College. In addition, I serve on the Advisory Board of an online magazine celebrating the extraordinary women who shape our world, as well as the Program Committee, and am Vice President of the Board.
Beyond my passion for birth and design, I enjoy my lifelong engagement in ballet and photography. I am a mother of two daughters, birthed in New York City with the unwavering support of my midwife, Yael, and my doula, Amy."
About Deb: Deb Polzin-Rosenberg, RN, MArch, RA, AIA, is a registered nurse and registered architect, whose work is dedicated to rethinking the design of birthing spaces all over the world—for a safer, more comfortable and empowering experience of childbirth. She studied architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) (2012-2015), where she was awarded a grant to compare birth facility design in the U.S., U.K., and the Netherlands. After graduation, she joined MASS Design Group from 2015-2018, leveraging her nursing background to contribute a unique perspective to health design projects worldwide and helped lead a major research collaboration studying the link between variation in the design of childbirth facilities and clinical outcomes. She worked with MASS in Rwanda from 2016-2018, developing innovative, evidence-based design solutions for maternity systems throughout Africa. In 2020, she joined Ariadne Labs’ Better Birth initiatives, then founded her own studio, Better Birth Design (2021), focusing on translating research into impactful birth design strategies globally. She returned to Africa with her family in 2022, where she was awarded an Ariadne Labs Spark Grant to research global design standards for maternal health facilities (2023), the Stewardson Keefe LeBrun Travel Grant from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York to study the impact of culture on maternal health facilities in sub-Saharan Africa, and served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Botswana (2024-2025), teaching and conducting research to develop low-cost, high-impact design strategies for childbirth facilities in low-resource settings. She now lives in Maine, and is a Senior Architect, Clinical Experience Planner at Shepley Bulfinch, where she is driven to transform childbirth in the U.S.