Birth Stories in Color

Deidre Brooks' story is timeless. Her memories of her pregnancy are so vividly detailed, which speaks to the power of pregnancy-related memories and how transformational the experience can be. Picture this, it's 1989, and Deidre found out she was pregnant between 4-5 months gestation after multiple negative tests. The moment she found out became a learning experience for a nurse eager to share the...

When Sharita and Anthony began to prep for their second child's birth, they followed the plan from their first's birth. Receiving care from the same OB, hiring a doula, and utilizing support strategies through hypnobirthing. Like her first pregnancy, Sharita began having some concerns with her blood pressure into her third trimester, as her readings were starting to be pretty high. Following the a...

The role of being a parent can sometimes feel like a very long rollercoaster ride. And Delaine Bradley expressed that for her to hold on for the ride is being transparent about the experience - there will be good parts and bad parts, but it all makes for beautiful memories. When Dalaine found out she was pregnant with her third child, it wasn't something she was expecting and not something she was...

This is a story about loss - In memory of Derek Jerrell Anderson Jr., aka DJ Alishia Anderson shares that motherhood has stretched her in ways she didn't even know she could be stretched. That the lessons she has taken from her journey are that "motherhood is very unpredictable, and having living children is an underrated blessing!" Her motherhood journey was turned upside down as within her first...

Sara Reardon is a pelvic floor health therapist. A therapist that works with the muscles, nerves, and tissues in the pelvic region of the body, muscles we are using every day in many different ways. Having been in this work for over eight years serving individuals on all spectrums of their birth journey, when she was pregnant with her first son, it was still a shock to her all the shifts and chall...

This is a story about loss - In memory of Carter, Stokely, and Ellison Marise Angibeau Gray shared with us her journey of birthing her three angel babies and her daughter Memphis. A story she hopes can be instrumental in helping other people navigate their own.  When Marise and her husband found out they were pregnant with their first son, there was a sense of shock, but soon followed with overwhe...

Community Herbalist and Doula Taylor Huntley shared her two birth experiences that inspired her work and mission. Taylor’s first pregnancy was a surprise that led her down the rabbit hole of learning all of the possible options. She found herself needing to self-advocate more than she expected as she dealt with being “overweight.” She surprised her provider with how healthy she was and not allowin...

Erica Butler, founder, and Sex Educator for Happ E. SexTalk, an education consulting company focused on challenging the media and cultural messages pertaining to female sexuality, body image, and sexual pleasure – specifically the historically negative and hypersexualized images of Black female sexuality. Erica shared her birth story with us, discussed her work and its importance in reproductive h...

Shenee is a counselor who focuses on serving pregnancy and postpartum women. Her second pregnancy was going well until her 32nd week presented with bleeding the same week as her baby shower. She was blessed to have additional support in town, her husband stayed with their older daughter, and her best friend joined her at the hospital over the next three days. The bleeding was unexplained, but she...

After having a surgical birth with her first son, Nicole knew her second birth; she wanted her journey to look different. That started with finding a black midwife, a black doula, and birthing with a care team that would treat her under a holistic mindset, her needs and wants always being the lead. Yet, unexpected events of the world would cause Nicole to make some shifts. Soon after her state's s...

Tash joined us on the podcast to share the birth of her first daughter Paris. Getting to her birth did take some time for Tash and her husband, as they navigated fertility issues and a miscarriage before her pregnancy with Paris. She describes it as being hard from the beginning and with an unexpected twist as at 16 weeks, results from their genetic testing had a high probability that their child...

Talitha Phillips, CEO of Claris Health, joined us to share their origin story, mission, and ongoing work. Claris Health is a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles, California, that focuses on providing no/low-cost medical services for families focusing on perinatal care. Talitha shared her experience balancing being a birth and postpartum doula and leading Claris Health as the CEO. She was first i...

Kristen felt moved to share her birth story with BSIC as she felt it uniquely provided a space for women of color to be open and raw. Kristen became aware of her first pregnancy while traveling in Northern Africa. She managed to acquire prenatal care there, despite language barriers. Eventually, she transitioned back to the states still within the pregnancy and decided to hire a midwife for a home...

In thinking about what she wanted for her birth, she wanted it to be full of choices and led by her voice. For Heather, that meant a strong birth team of doulas and midwives, having a homebirth, and following her body and baby's lead. At about 43 weeks, after a walk under the full moon, Heather's water broke, and things began moving pretty fast. After laboring for about four to five hours, Heather...

After a perfect first pregnancy, Gelise discovered she was experiencing preeclampsia symptoms that led to an emergency surgical birth. She was never given the diagnosis, but complications during the induction process led her down the road to a surgical birth. The second pregnancy started with Gelise accepting that anything could happen during pregnancy. She had learned from the first experience th...

Sharing about her pregnancy Chelsie described it as pretty easy and a time that she really enjoyed. She hoped that the same would be said for her birth. Speaking about birth with one of her close friends, Chelsie was keen that she didn't want a cut and dry birth plan. She was open to all options but was holding firm to no induction, taking her time with medical intervention for pain, and trying to...

Jessica shared her empowering VBAC birth experience after having a surgical twin birth. She and her husband decided to enlist the support of a doula for the third pregnancy. They reached out to a local organization, ROOTT, to hire a Black Perinatal Support Doula - who would be knowledgeable about the unique needs of Black women and families in birthing spaces and help her navigate her desire to ha...

Nikki Helms has supported families as either a doula or midwife for over 15 years. Her work began with a simple gesture of wanting to fulfill a friend's request to attend their birth. Soon after, all of her friends were requesting her to be their doula. It wasn't until moving to San Diego; she realized her work had moved beyond just providing suggestions to families and supporting them more like a...

With over seventeen years of public health experience, Bianca was aware of the health disparities and injustice within reproductive health. Having that knowledge, she knew that it was essential to be informed, develop a plan for her birth, and have a strong birth team to support her. After years of trying to conceive, when she and her fiance discovered they were pregnant, it was a welcomed surpris...

There is a narrative that surrounds birth, an idea of extremes, Birth Stories in Color hope is that we would be able to unveil all the stories ave those in the in-between. Highlighting the spectrum of birth, the variety of experiences, and those filled with joy, so that the community could see that it is possible to birth from a place of power rather than fear. When submitting her story, Nicole wa...

Milan Sanders joined us to share her birth story that she worked hard at preparing for that led her to a unplanned home birth. Her pregnancy started during her last semester of college, which was a busy season of her life. She fearfully shared her news with her mother and was surprised that her mother was supportive, and it became an opportunity for them to bond. Her mother wanted to be present ev...

This is a story about loss - In memory of Malachi Cayden Boatwright. Crystall was 28 weeks before she found out she was pregnant. Working in the wellness and hospitality industry and during a pretty chaotic time, she had attributed her symptoms of fatigue and sickness to the stress of work. She soon started feeling worse and wanting to make sure there wasn't a serious problem she went to the docto...

Alicia is a licensed social worker, so being aware and engaged in mental health practices has a significant role in her life. Not being one ever to envision herself with children, finding out she was pregnant with twins was an immense delight for Alicia and her husband, Solomon. Reflecting on her past mental health, experiences with clients and friends, Alicia knew for her it was important that sh...

When we asked Gabrielle to describe her birth in 3-4 sentences, all we could focus on was the last line; "Our story is to remind ALL MOMS to stay the course, work your journey, and PUSH BACK when medical practitioners say "No." Her birth story is a testament to her unwavering faith and fight for justice. From the beginning, Gabrielle and her fiance knew with the birth of their son; they were going...

July is Fibroid Awareness Month - studies show that Black women suffer from fibroids 2-3 times more than white women and tend to experience fibroids at a younger age and often more severely. With those numbers, Black women are also 2 to 3 times more likely to undergo surgery to manage their fibroids. With such a common occurrence, few women are open about their experience, know about treatment opt...