Midwives of Color Board Resigns From Midwives Alliance of North America

On May 21st MANA {Midwives Alliance of North America} announced first via Facebook and Twitter that several key Midwives of Color(including the chair)had resigned from the organization.

“It is with heavy hearts that the Midwives Alliance today received the resignation of several key members of the MANA Midwives of Color (MOC) Section, including the Chair. MANA is fully aware of its history of privilege and the issues related to cultural and systemic hierarchies in decision-making. We are committed to working towards a structural change in the way our organization operates in light of the repeated failures to address the needs of our midwives of color. We recognize the disproportionate impact of perinatal disparities and poor outcomes for women, infants and communities of color. MANA has an ongoing responsibility to address these issues in order to fulfill our mission of providing a professional organization for all midwives.”

A day or two later it was placed on the front page of their website.
The responses have ranged from outrage, to sadness, and disbelief.

You can read the resignation here.

What does this mean for the organization? What does this mean for our communties of color? Maybe this will be the wake up call that is needed for people to realize the work that needs to be done for minorities women and children….. but it shouldn’t have had to come to this.

We obviously have a long way to in addressing the disparities in minorities where birth is concerned.

I have more to say, but I keep finding more and more information that makes me sad and angry. For that reason I’m going to hold off on posting the rest of my thoughts.

For now I’ll leave you with the resignation letter. Please share your thoughts in the comments.

#BlackBirth Blog Carnival Call For Submissions… Not Without Our Fathers

#BlackBirth… It is indeed a beautiful thing. And here with the Black Birth Blog Carnival we want to continue to celebrate it. The Black Birth Blog Carnival is hosted by Darcel of Mahoganyway Birth Café and Nicole Deggins blogging as Sista Midwife. We were so excited about the love, support, and feedback we received from the first installment of the Black Birth Blog Carnival that we can’t wait to read the submissions this time around. The topic for this carnival: #BlackBirth… Not without Our Fathers.

So often we talk birth in women circles. We celebrate birth within the feminine community and forget that without the fathers our birth experiences would be non existent. June 17th marks the day many will celebrate fathers in this country. With that in mind we came up with our topic for this installment of the Black Birth Blog Carnival.

Fathers are essential to the #BlackBirth story. Without them, the fathers of our children, there would be no birth. Some fathers are there at the beginning of our experience and absent from our birth stories. Some are ever present with strong hands, a loving heart, and a gentleness that we may have never known before that moment. No matter the role he played, we want to hear about how the father of your baby impacted your birth. How did his involvement or lack thereof affect your birth choices and your childbirth experience? How about YOUR father… did he impact your birth?

Now here is a twist… Calling all men to the Carnival of Black Birth… Are you a man that would like to celebrate what #BlackBirth means to you? Do you have a birth story to share? We would LOVE to get your unique perspective.

Lastly, and certainly not least, perhaps you don’t have a personal experience you would like to share at all. Do you know of a father that has been a part of and/or impacted black birth in other ways? No matter the story… we wanna read it. We want to celebrate Black Birth and celebrate the fathers that make them possible. Submit your stories today for our next carnival #BlackBirth… Not Without Our Fathers.

What is a Blog Carnival
A blog carnival is a collection of blog posts from a variety of bloggers on a particular subject, published on the same day. This blog carnival will be published/go live Tuesday June 12th. In addition to posting his/her article, each blogger provides links to all of the other posts submitted. Because of this, blog carnivals are a great way to learn about other fabulous bloggers. They give you an opportunity to connect with others and have the potential to increase traffic to your blog. If you do not have a personal blog and want to participate, please email us ASAP at BlackBirthCarnival at gmail dot com so that we can find a host blog for your article submission.

Guidelines and Instructions for Submissions
We are looking for posts that are well written, informative, thought provoking and relevant to the theme of the carnival. We prefer that you submit a new, unpublished post for the carnival however, if you feel you have the “perfect post” that has been previously published we will accept it.

Please email your post to us at BlackBirthCarnival at gmail dot com no later than Tuesday, June  5th. Be sure to put June Carnival in the subject line of the email and don’t forget to give us the title of your post. We cannot accept your submission without a title.

You will receive an HTML code with instructions via email no later than June 3rd. You will need to place this code in your blog post so that you will link up with all of the other blogs participating in the carnival.For the success of the carnival, it’s important that you add this code. Please do not publish your post until after midnight on the 12th. We are excited about this new Blog Carnival and we look forward to receiving your submissions.

Here is the first installment of the Black Birth Carnival: Birthing While Black.

In Birth and Love Darcel & Nicole Follow us on Twitter & Let’s Celebrate #BlackBirth @MahoganyWayMama & @SistaMidwife

This Milk Tastes Good! Book Review and Giveaway

LaVaon Martin – you are the winner of This Milk Tastes Good! I’ll be in contact for your mailing address. Come back to let us know what you thought of the book. Congratulations and Enjoy!

******

When Mama and Author Chenniah Patrick asked me if I would consider reviewing her new book, This Milk Tastes Good, I said yes without any hesitation.

Chenniah says the book was born from her singing this tune to her daughter, and as she grew older, she started humming it…..dad learned it as well!

This Milk Tastes Good! is a family-friendly nursery rhyme about breastfeeding from the baby’s point of view. This book features a black family promoting breastfeeding, I love it!

I enjoyed this book for so many reasons. I’m loving the black husband and wife team. Her husband is the illustrator, and they run a publishing company together. This book shows images of nursing in public as displayed on the cover. The pictures are bright and colorful, and the words are nice and big. I even like the font they used.

I love the drawings of mom and dad babywearing, dad wearing a shirts that supports breastfeeding. And a black family doing what is normal and natural. Breastfeeding! My kids really enjoyed flipping through this book, and having me read it to them.

A few lines from the book….

“This milk tastes good. This milk tastes yummy.”
My mama feeds me. She puts food in my tummy.”

Chenniah is set to record a YouTube video for the book so we can all hear the tune to the rhyme.

******

To enter the giveaway – leave a comment telling us about one of your favorite breastfeeding moments. If your child is older, what do they tell you your breastmilk tastes like?

The winner will be announced within this post next Thursday at Noon EST.

An email address is required(only visible to me)so I can contact you for your mailing address.

Black Birth: What Happened To Our Strength?

Welcome to the First Edition of the  Black Birth Carnival. Hosted by Darcel of  The Mahogany Way Birth Cafe and Nicole of Musings From The Mind of Sista Midwife. Our first topic is Birthing While Black: A Historical Perspective. At the end of this post you will find a list of links to the other participants. Some of these posts may contain Emotional Triggers and will be labeled at the beginning of the post.

****

When I think of the history of Black Birth, I picture women in the back woods, down dirt roads, with a midwife in attendance. The laboring mother was probably surrounded by family, her mother, sister, cousins, friends. I picture a strong black woman who trusts her body and baby to do the work they were meant to do together. A crossing over from girl, young lady, or woman…. to mother. Like the women in All My Babies: A Midwife’s Own Story. It’s a sacred and spiritual event.

While I would love to keep the positive picture in my head of Black Birth, I know that not all of that is true. I know that mothers and babies died back then. But I also can’t shake the feeling that Black Birth was a celebration, not a medical event that it is today.

It’s harder for me to picture slaves birthing in the cotton fields, and moments later with their babies on their backs, going back to picking cotton. I’m a wuss! Talking about babymoons after I birth my children. I need a few days to relax, to lie and cuddle with my baby, to establish breastfeeding. Not these slave women. Then I think of their strength. What kind of woman it must take to not only care for, and nurse the child of your master, but to go through labor, birth and nurse your own child, and keep it moving as if nothing ever happened. I think as beaten down as they were, somewhere deep down, they had a strong mental state. I imagine you would have to….to endure all that they did.

From this book -  Birthing A Slave.

“Slaves suffered extremely high mortality. Half of all slave infants died during their first year of life, twice the rate of white babies. And while the death rate declined for those who survived their first year, it remained twice the white rate through age 14.”

You can read the rest of the article at Life Under Slavery. Does the above paragraph sound familiar? In case it doesn’t…. black babies are still dying at 2.4 times the rate of white babies right now in the 21st century.

It blew my mind the first time I heard the story of how blacks were finally allowed to birth in the hospital. It was meant to mean that they had finally arrived. If a black woman could birth in the hospital you would think it was a sign of equality, but it wasn’t. Black women were and still are treated as if we are beneath the rest of society. Why did  black women fight so hard to get into a system that didn’t want them there, that didn’t care about their health, or the health of their babies?

Why do we let a community that doesn’t understand us tell us what is the right way to birth? Why do we settle for white birth being more important than Black Birth? Is it because the Black Community as a whole doesn’t know their worth? Is it because we are afraid to challenge our Doctors? Is it because  our dignity and human rights were dragged through mud, and our spirits were broken so that we would submit to the white mans way of thinking Black Birth should be? What happened to our strength? Why did we stop trusting our bodies and our babies?

It’s true that way back when we had little control over our lives, but it’s 2012.  The color of our skin does not make us any less human.

How can we stop history from repeating itself? By creating a new history, which is what I think we are doing right now. Little by little Black Birth will be seen as the beautiful, scared, spiritual event that it once was. Our women will stop birthing in fear. We will be treated with dignity and respect. We will find that strength and beauty that our ancestors carried with them.

****

Please take time to read the other submissions for the Black Birth Carnival. These are very touching, thought-provoking posts

****

Nicole – Musings From The Mind of Sista Midwife: Our History Does Not Have To Be Our Future

Darcel – The Mahogany Way Birth Cafe: What Happened To Our Strength?

Takiema – Connect Formation Consulting: Black & Still Birthing – A Deeply Personal Post

Teresha – Marlie and Me: My Childbirth Influences and Experiences: From my Foremothers to Erykah Badu

Denene – My Brown Baby: Birthing While Black In The Jim Crow South Stole My Grandmother: Thankfully, Things Change

Olivia – The Student Midwife: Birthing While Black: A Historical Perspective of Black Midwives

Chante – My Natural Motherhood Journey: Homebirth Stories

World Doula Week: Screening Doula!

Are you tired of all this talk about Doulas from me lately? No – that’s great! It’s World Doula Week. It started yesterday on the 22nd, which is also the Spring Equinox, which represents the return of fertility in many cultures around the world.

So what is Word Doula Week all about?  It’s about raising awareness of Doulas, and celebrating their work.
I first heard the term Doula when I was pregnant with my first. I like to think that two of my closest friends acted as Doulas for me.

Then I had a Doula at the birth of my second child. She was also a message therapist. She was such a lovely woman. She had a very calming spirit about her. The way she talked to me, encouraged me, and those oils…..lavender and peppermint. If I close my eyes I can smell them right now.

In case you’ve missed two of my other posts, I have an Interview With A Postpartum Doula. Laila was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions about the amazing work she does for and with families.
Then there is the Project Bellies Birth And Babies: How You Can Help Reduce The Infant Mortality Rate. Asiyah has been working on this project to raise money to train 20 Doulas in Georgia. Both articles highlight the importance of Doulas in the Black Community.

You can also read how Doulas have a significant impact on Birth and Breastfeeding.

Toni Harman and Alex Wakeford are a real life couple to a 4-year-old. They are the creators of the film Doula! A documentary of three different families and their births. The film shows up close and personal Doulas in their roles with each family at different stages of labor and birth.

There are 165 screenings of the film Doula! going on throughout the country for World Doula Week. Check the link to see if there may be a showing near you.

I have several friends that are Doulas, off and online. They inspire me. They give of their time to serve women, helping them and their families through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.
There are many benefits to having a Doula. I know there are a lot of links in this post, but please check them out, and feel free to share them with family and friends.

Lets show some love for the Doulas in our communities around the world.

 

Project Bellies Birth And Babies: How You Can Help Reduce The Infant Mortality Rate

Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in the birth business?

I’ve been involved in birth work since the age of 17. I’m telling my age but that was nearly 18 years ago! My first experience was at the birth of my godson. After that, I kind of fell head first into it. I began studying midwifery on my own and became certified as a Doula, childbirth educator, lactation counselor, infant massage specialist and nutritional consultant. I worked as a labor and delivery, newborn nursery, pediatric and school nurse for years before embarking on this journey with Mother Nature’s Belly.

How did you come up with the idea for your non-profit – Mother Natures Belly?

I founded Mother Nature’s Belly in 2006 as a for profit business shortly after I miscarried for the second time. I had two older children through adoption however I was truly feeling a loss for “birthing” my own child. Mother Nature’s Belly started as a home based postpartum Doula support company. I really felt a need to provide holistic support for new mother’s as a part of my healing process. Caring for the mother’s allowed me to heal. The business really snowballed into what it is today. Mothers continued to seek more services from me which led to additional certifications, tons of training and finally restructuring the business as a not for profit in 2011 enabling women who are often overlooked due to their socio-economic status, access to our services, most at no or low-cost. Many of these women are women of color. 98% of the women I serve at Mother Nature’s Belly are not of European decent.

What is the infant mortality rate like in Georgia?

Infant mortality is defined by the death of an infant between birth and their 1st birthday. For decades, the infant mortality rate in Georgia has ranked among the highest in the nation. Each year, thousands of babies are born prematurely or at a very low birth weight. Many of them will die. The two main causes of infant mortality are that babies are born prematurely or they don’t weigh enough. Often, it’s both. Birth defects, injuries, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome are also leading causes. Babies born at a low birth weight – that is, five and half pounds or less – account for more than two-thirds of the state’s infant deaths. And the percentage of babies born with low birth weight in Georgia has not decreased at all since 1990. On top of that, a disturbing racial disparity persists. African-American babies are twice as likely as white babies to be born at a low weight, and thus to die.

For those who don’t know, what is a Doula, and what does she do?

Doulas provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support before and during labor, birth, and the immediate postpartum period. The intent of a Doula is to help the woman have a safe and satisfying experience, as the woman defines it.

Can you explain how more Doulas help lower the infant mortality rate. Also, how your fundraiser Bellies, Birth & Babies fills the need for free Doula training.

Here’s an example of how Doulas effectively lower the infant mortality rate, particularly among African-American women. This study was conducted in Hillsborough County Florida between 2005-2008…

“Young women participating in the Doula Program experience decreased need of intensive medical interventions, such as C-sections or epidurals, and they breastfeed for an extended duration, providing an estimated cost savings of $1.5 million annually for the WIC agency (data based on a report from the United States Breastfeeding Committee on the Economic Benefits of Breastfeeding).
Additionally, in comparison to the Hillsborough County average of 12.4 black infant deaths per 1,000 births from 2005-2007, black participants in the Doula Program experienced a lower infant mortality rate (1 per 1,000 black infant deaths reported). These data were calculated based on the total number of Doula assisted, live births over the last three-year period; 2005-2008.”

The Bellies, Birth & Babies Fundraiser will train 20 Doulas who will serve women in the greater Atlanta area and beyond! Free Doula training is as much a necessity for the health and well-being of expectant mothers and their babies as is comprehensive prenatal care. If each Doula trained attended a minimum of one birth per month, 240 women would be impacted on a yearly basis! That’s huge! In these tough economic times, free training of any kind is ALWAYS needed, especially when it will provide job opportunities and contribute to community sustainability.

******

Asiyah is the founder and owner of Mother Nature’s Belly. You can follow her on Twitter @MNaturesBelly and Like her Facebook Page.

We have 60 days to help Asiyah reach her goal of $5,500 to train 20 Doulas through the Bellies, Birth & Babies Fundraiser.

You can’t help but want to help a minimum of 240 Mama’s and Babies. Can you help by donating five dollars? What about one dollar? We understand that times are tough financially for many people, and if you can’t donate, could you please share this post with other birth workers, family and friends?

A one time donation for a lifetime of helping women and babies.