Tag: doula
-
Traditional Home Birth Supplies
Home birth is an ancient tradition and the most sacred place to birth. Birth takes place in tents, igloos, huts, apartments, cars, cabins, mansions, water, and outdoor spaces. Preparing for a home birth should be simple and inexpensive. The role of traditional home birth supplies is to create a sacred and hygienic environment Shopping for…
-
Competent Maternity Care
Competent maternity care can reduce maternal mortality and improve perinatal outcomes using the core cultural competencies. This knowledge is a requirement to reduce preventable deaths in maternal and child health and to build a “much needed” diverse workforce. Cultural competency is a well-established discipline that was introduced to medical education in 1988. It was later…
-
Announcement: Journal Article Published in 2020 NCMJ
I am pleased to announce my recent article, Perinatal Disparities and Solutions, is now published in the North Carolina Medical Journal, January – February 2020. The US infant mortality rate is the highest within the cohort of industrialized nations. Healthcare providers, family, and friends must listen to women. We know that at least 60% of…
-
Postpartum Care and Moroccan Mint Tea
On May 4th, I arrived in Tangier, Morocco for the Tribal Sisterhood Retreat. I attended the retreat to learn Moroccan postpartum rituals. I was excited to participate and to learn the wisdom from traditional midwives and elder healers. My life’s work is to heal trauma and bring spirituality back full circle in birth, by connecting…
-
The Danger of Preeclampsia
Why Is Preeclampsia Dangerous? Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality, particularly in the Black community. Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-induced condition that can begin as early as 20 weeks gestation. Science is still seeking both causes and solutions to preeclampsia. “Preeclampsia and eclampsia are part of the spectrum of high blood pressure, or hypertensive, disorders that can occur during…
-
Ending Black U.S. Maternal Mortality
Ending Black U.S. Maternal Mortality by Trusting Black Women and responding to their needs. Maternal mortality can be prevented with self-advocacy, and using midwives and doulas, both in hospitals and at home.
-
Community Midwifery: The Solution
I coined the term “Community Midwife” in 1980 to emulate the history of the 20th Century Black midwife; as Ms. Margaret Charles Smith, co-author of “Listen to Me Good, Life of an Alabama Midwife, and featured in the award winning “Bringin in Da Spirit “documentary, says, “I became a midwife working around nigh you know,…