Courtney Hall is passionate about families.
After graduating from North Carolina A&T University, Hall dedicated her career to mental health and clinical social work, balancing her roles as a wife and mother of three boys. Now she’s making the health of Black women and mothers her number one priority by opening Bump Baby Bliss, the first ever Black-owned ultrasound studio in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“My goal is to advocate and get women to understand their rights and feel comfortable and confident in asking the right questions about their bodies, even when the small things don’t feel right,” Hall said to WFMY News in Greensboro.
Bump Baby Bliss is a one-stop shop for doula, counseling, and ultrasound services for expectant mothers. The studio offers a comprehensive range of services, including 2D, 3D, 4D ultrasounds, early DNA gender testing, birth doula support, placenta encapsulation, perinatal therapy, childbirth classes, breastfeeding, assistance, mentorship and more.
Being a mom herself–with experience as a therapist and doula–Hall was inspired to open this business to provide a community-oriented and peaceful environment for moms-to-be.
“We all know that doctor’s offices, they care about us, but it’s definitely very business oriented,” Hall said. “They see over hundreds of people a day. I want it to be a place where you can come and have an experience. It’s a whole vibe. You feel good. You feel time has been taken to be spent with you,” Hall said.
Not everyone has a good experience at the traditional doctor’s office, especially Black women. According to the Center for Disease Control, Black mothers are three times more likely to die from complications during pregnancy and birth than white mothers. Hall hopes that with Bump Baby Bliss, she’ll be able to educate new doulas and encourage new mothers to advocate for their bodies and their needs. “Having a birth doula and mental health support for you and your family should not be considered a luxury, it is a NECESSITY,” she says on the Bump Baby Bliss site.
Hall’s studio is the first of its kind in Greensboro, a Southern city that boasts another historic first. On Feb. 1, 1960, four Black NCAT freshmen, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil staged the first major sit-in at the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Downtown Greensboro. This courageous act from the Greensboro Four as they would come to be known helped spark other protests against segregation nationwide and led to the founding for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), an organization that would become a leading force in the Civil Rights Movement.
With the opening of her studio, Hall hopes to honor their legacy.
“[The Greensboro Four] made a major mark in Downtown Greensboro,” Hall said. “I plan to make a major impact as well. I feel like when you’re working in your purpose, and working in something that you know God has placed you to do, it impacts the world.”
As of Feb. 1, Bump Baby Bliss is open for business.
Alt text: NCAT Alumna Opens First Black-Owned Ultrasound Studio in Greensboro / Photo credit: Bump Baby Bliss