Cristal Pride wants to help women and families with the ups and downs, or “the wave,” of pregnancy and childbirth.
Pride, 32, of Eureka said a memorable meeting with a pregnant woman led her to start The Waves Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides care for women preparing for childbirth and post-pregnancy.
“When I was pregnant, I was having a lot of health issues,” Pride said. “I spoke to some (pregnant) women who said they didn’t even have the money to afford the vitamins. One person I met, which broke my heart, was deciding if she was going to keep the baby or not because of her financial situation, if she should leave the baby at the hospital. When she said that to me, my life changed.”
Pride, a medical doctor from the Dominican Republic, immigrated to the United States in 2019. Since 2015, she has organized free clinics in her native country with the help of medical students to provide care in low-income areas. On a recent trip to the Caribbean island, she and 16 students screened and treated 487 patients in four days.
While she travels far to provide medical clinics, Pride said her foundation supporting young families has a purpose close to her new home.
“I initially wanted to start a birth center in my home country, but after I learned more and more about my own location, I said, ‘Why would I go so far when I could help here?’” she said. “We believe moms deserve, no matter their financial status, doulas, chiropractors, breastfeeding specialists, high-quality services we can provide for them.”
Team effort
The Waves Foundation launched in May and four others from the St. Louis area are helping Pride provide these services. She said team members volunteer their time and resources for free.
Additionally, the foundation raises money and accepts donations to supply mothers with supplies, such as diapers and new or gently used clothing.
Tyler McNeil is the director of health and wellness at the foundation and is also the owner of Healing STL, a prenatal and pediatric chiropractic office.
Elizabeth Kirk is a registered nurse with more than 10 years of experience. She has spent most of her career working with trauma and general surgery patients, according to The Waves website.
Jason Pride, Cristal’s husband, serves as chief financial officer for the organization and is president of Vested Solutions, a business consultant firm in St. Louis.
Vice President Morgan Land works with McNeil at Healing STL as a chiropractor assistant. Land, 33, of Dittmer recently became a certified holistic fertility and birth practitioner and completed training to become a certified doula with DONA International, something she said Pride encouraged her to do, despite her long-held fear of blood.
“I don’t do well with blood, so I’ve always dismissed the idea of being a doula,” she said. “(Pride) was one of several people who was always saying, ‘You need to be a doula.’ It’s fun to see, after all these years, she was right.”
According to DONA International, a doula provides personalized care to a mother before, during and after childbirth. The doula often provides emotional, physical and informational support to the mother.
“When you’re pregnant, it’s not just a change to the body but, mentally, a whole new experience,” Pride said.
Even before Land received her doula certification about six months ago, Pride approached her with the idea of becoming the doula services coordinator for The Waves Foundation. The pair developed their friendship when both worked at a chiropractic office, where Pride was a Spanish translator and Land was a chiropractic assistant.
“(Pride was) just like, ‘Hey, I’m going to have this organization, and I want to help moms and babies get care,’ like this big vision thing, and she said, ‘You’re going to be the doula for these moms,’” Land said. “She was just very adamant from the beginning that I am that person. She thinks very big picture very fast.”
The Waves Foundation is currently in the process of applying for 501(c)(3) status, Land said, and the team is hopeful the status will be granted soon. She said until the status is approved, the organization can’t provide health services like chiropractic care or lactation services.
In the meantime, Land said the organization can provide information, resources and direct those in need to care suitable for them.
“We’re limited on actual services we can provide,” she said. “We can start fundraising and we can give physical items, but we’re not able to provide services yet. Like with any organization, we’re going to learn and grow. I think we’re all just really excited to see what comes out of that growth period and what the foundation really turns into.”
Importance of family, symbols
Pride said she was motivated by her two children – Aiden, 2, and Harvey, 14 months – to start the organization. Pride has lived with her family in Eureka for nearly two years.
“I believe that the environment we create as a foundation, and for me personally, is a family environment,” she said. “I have two beautiful babies, and without them, I wouldn’t have been able to have a foundation, honestly.”
Cristal and Jason Pride with their children, Aiden, 2, and Harvey, 14 months.
Land, who has a toddler, said families and mothers, in particular, need someone to advocate for them during pregnancy. She said she had a doula to help her through childbirth.
“When I was going through pregnancy myself, I just felt and saw a lot of things personally that I was like, ‘Wow, if I didn’t have this type of support, I don’t know the type of birth outcome I would have had,’” Land said. “It’s so important that moms know their options.”
Pride said the foundation’s name has a special meaning. She said the visual of a wave can be seen throughout a woman’s pregnancy, and it made a lot of sense to her as a foundation name.
“Contractions come and go like waves in the ocean,” Pride said. “Also, when you listen to a baby during an ultrasound, it sounds like water. Just like when you have a wave of contractions, we can help you feel calm. We can send them a wave of affirmations and good intentions.”
For more information about The Waves Foundation, visit thewavesfoundation.org, or email cristal@thewavesfoundation.org.