Birth Stories in Color

This is a story about loss - In memory of Kira Johnson Charles welcomed fatherhood with joy. He and Kira were so excited to start their family, and their second pregnancy would bring them back-to-back boys. The first pregnancy had been healthy, but ended in an emergency surgical birth as Baby Charles experienced heart decelerations that became concerning. Welcoming their second child during a tran...

This story includes loss - in memory of Ernest Levert Jr. To be held is an embrace. To hold is to be responsible for something or someone.  Several characteristics define a community, including shared identity, interaction, shared purpose, shared norms and values, and support systems. This helps foster a sense of belonging and collective action among its members. The premise of ubuntu, "I am becau...

Javana’s birth experience taught her some important lessons about self-advocacy and the current structure of maternal health in the United States. The gaps in education about options and the variance in how providers operate through the perinatal process led her down a road of challenges and fear.  Over thirty hours of labor started with mild, irregular contractions and pieces of her mucus plug re...

The year 2020 will forever be etched in the minds of those who lived to tell the tale. Oh, the stories we will tell. The smoke and mirrors were dispersed and the United States revealed its true self. We bore witness to Riot, after Riot, after Riot. The revolution appeared to be televised after all. But deep in our communities the true revolution was brewing. Many Black women and birthing people co...

Our guest, CEO of Emagine Solutions Technology Courtney Williams, is the creator of The Journey Pregnancy App. The app enables patients to vital signs during pregnancy and then transmits this information in real-time and creates a record. Beyond that it issues a call to action for users to contact their providers when they enter vitals that are out of bounds based on ACOG standards. This technolog...

Meeting Emoni and listening to her pregnancy and birth reminds one of the classic interview of a young Serena Williams when the interviewer asked her repeatedly why she thought she was going to win her match. Her father Richard Williams interrupted the interview and told the reporter to “leave that alone.” The “that” he referred to was Serena’s confidence. He was deeply protective of that which he...

Stacee describes her current state of being as her motherhood era. She has birthed two of their children with her husband, and to look at them now you would have no clue what it took to get here. Conception did not come easy. Childbirth brought its challenges. Postpartum complications nearly ended it all. Stacee and Shawn’s family was forged in the fire. Stacee and her husband, Shawn, held strong...

Esther McCant, founder and CEO of Metro Mommy Agency, opened up about her five pregnancies, which included a miscarriage that would push her to self-advocate with her medical provider. Esther’s first pregnancy happened within the first few months of her marriage. Six weeks later, she learned that she had a blighted ovum and her provider prepared her to miscarry. She had the choice to let the ovum...

Storytelling is always where the truth lies. It's an authentic account of our experiences - without modification, questions, or uncertainty. Validation that our experience and voice matter. We know what the narrative has been created around black fathers, what they are or aren't doing. What fatherhood has or hasn't meant to them. In our community, though we feel the truth, we know the role black f...

Raena Boston, Founder of the Chamber of Mothers and The Momtras, joined us to share her three birth experiences and the makings of motherhood. Raena's first pregnancy lead her down a new path for her family by choosing a birth center instead of a hospital. Her provider was off-putting and the idea of shifting to different providers within the practice helped her make the decision. The birth center...

A few years have passed since we last heard from Dasia. She shared her first birth story which included a home birth transfer to the hospital where she endured birth trauma.  Since our last chat on the podcast, Dasia added birth doula to her growing list of titles and passions.   This second pregnancy was unexpected but welcome. Her threshold of knowledge had shifted not just within birth work but...

Birth doula and student-midwife Trinity Stephens is serving the Southwestern Ohio birthing community at an early age. She's 17 years old but has been a birth worker for four years. She completed her initial training with her Aunt Rhonda and has continued to build her skills and garner further education through training and hands-on work with local midwives. After attending her first birth, virtual...

This is a story that includes loss - In memory of Troya Simone Kay’s expectation of pregnancy was to feel joy. Her life was falling into place the way she wanted it to regarding her personal and professional life. She inquired about the effects of her workload and the pregnancy. Her provider said as long as she felt good, she could continue working the way she had been. Despite her provider's reas...

Creatives Jenni & Bryson had built a life together, centering their work in music and writing before their baby girl joined the family. Their pregnancy journey started with extreme nausea for Jenni. She sought medical support for her discomfort and found relief in prescription nausea medication. Jenni was interested in midwifery care but was “risked out” due to blood pressure issues. However, she...

Black & Queer Mama, Shay Australia and her Filipino partner, Paul, took a deep dive into preconception into what pregnancy would look like for him and her clear expectations of his engagement. He was locked in and in agreement with how he wanted to show up. They both made changes during the pregnancy to improve their health, which included smoking cessation and abstaining from alcohol. They made a...

With the culmination of a marriage biodata form, a year of cyberstalking, and the power of liquid courage Priya and Harsh finally connected. After a  short courtship, they would marry during the Covid-19 pandemic. The couple found out they were expecting their first child while still managing the pandemic and the challenges it would bring to their parenthood journey. They were committed to learnin...

After a high blood pressure read at 20 weeks gestation, Mya started care with Maternal Fetal Medicine out of an abundance of caution. Seven weeks later, she would report to the hospital with a headache, feeling sick, and an even higher blood pressure reading, ultimately diagnosed with preeclampsia. Mya, a registered nurse, immediately knew her birth would be different than expected. Her doula met...

Dr. Nicole Carter founded HUES Women's Advocacy Institute to train Women of Color as health and wellness advocates to support other Women of Color in self-efficacy and advocacy. Her work stems from a personal experience managing three autoimmune disorders and connecting with her college students about their shared health concerns. She took on the responsibility of helping the students learn how to...

High school sweethearts Elizabeth and Jose Luis started to build their family shortly after marriage. There was no family history of infertility, but after many conversations within their circle, they felt it was worth starting a family as soon as possible. After learning more about ovulation tracking, they were expecting their first child without any challenges. Thankfully the internet didn’t let...

*We recommend listening to this episode in two parts, there is so much to learn from Janelle & Mivon’s story, and we hope you take the time and space to connect to all the intricacies of it * Janelle & Mivon perfectly timed their conception to align with their wedding day. They were able to share their pregnancy with their wedding guests as a sweet surprise. The early stages of pregnancy were plag...

Celia Kelly Bouza and her husband, Terrell, welcomed two children in the last three years while managing their busy careers at ESPN. Leading up to their son Axel’s pregnancy, they were met with a PCOS diagnosis for Celia and a miscarriage. The provider was supportive and helped them manage fertility support, and their journey was off to a great start.   However, upon arriving at the hospital, the...

Intentional family planning set up Deborah Woodson and her husband, Mike, for an empowering journey. She started eating healthier and working out before they started trying. YouTube offered helpful insight about ovulation, and they conceived soon afterward. Homebirth was top of mind, but they were in a relocation transition, so they started care with an OB. After Deborah interviewed a few midwives...

Yoga Instructor and traveling Occupational Therapist, Kelly Barnes shared her quicker than expected homebirth at 37 weeks. An experience she describes as "challenging, overwhelming, and rewarding all at the same time." Her expectations regarding when and how she would give birth were dismantled but the result was pure magic. Kelly maintained an active lifestyle which included yoga and running thro...

In collaboration with Pacify Health, this month’s episodes will focus on the doulas. You’ll hear conversations with four Pacify Doulas, getting a chance to reflect on “ The Other Side” of birth. Today we meet Danielle Miller. Danielle Miller was an established lactation counselor when the call to birth doula work pulled her in as a change agent supporting Black birthing people. She completed both...