Our co-host Chae Pounds just had a baby this March 2021! Chae and her husband Mensa tell us the story of Masara Mensah who was born at home. Chae is a mother of 4 and an apprentice midwife in New Orleans who also works with Birthmark Doula Collective. Mensa is a father, recording artist, school teacher, and an advocate of homebirth. Their story addresses iron-deficiency anemia in pregnancy, planning an unassisted birth also known as a family birth, prodromal labor, the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on postpartum, a postpartum "soup diet" and how even when birth is normal we can become anxious or overwhelmed by what's happening.

Isis and Chae interview Talise and her husband Arsalaan (formerly known as Deron). All 6 of their children were born at home including their surprise breech twins! Talise Xavier, of Atlanta, Georgia, is a wife, mother of six, author, and homemaker. Talise uses her birth experiences and expertise to help empower other women as a Natural pregnancy, Breastfeeding, and Postpartum care advocate. Her mission is to encourage women to birth their way, re-normalize natural homebirth, and educate women about their pregnancy and birthing options. Talise’s book,  “Home is Where The Birth Is: The Stories of my 6 Homebirths and How You Can Do it Too,” is now available for purchase on Amazon.

Get in Touch with Talise

Facebook: Talise Homebirth Queen

Instagram: @TaliseTheHomebirthQueen

Email: talisemotherofsix@gmail.com

TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of miscarriage, abortion, D&C and blood loss.
This episode features Ellenie Cruz. Ellenie’s homebirth story is special because it centers her miscarriage which she frames not as a pregnancy loss but rather a gain. Through her experience, Ellenie saw the impact and importance of community and of birth work. She also recognizes that birthing people who experience miscarriage still require postpartum care! 

Ellenie is a New Orleans-based educator, artist, poet, doula, student midwife, herbalist, and reiki master. She promotes ancestral practices to heal self, family, and community. Ellenie is the founder of Ascencion Art, the organizer of the NOLA herb gathering, and the Atabey School of Cultural Healing where she teaches herbalism classes to self-identified BIPOC. Follow her @asc3nsion_art and @oshunsgarden 

Isis and Chae interview Dr. Dana-Ain Davis who discusses her book Reproductive Injustice, as well as how medicalized childbirth is an extension of slavery, how racism is a risk factor for all Black birthing people, and why we need more radical birth workers.

In this Season 3 premiere episode, Isis and Chae interview Nubia Martin a Black midwife based in Yonkers, NY. Nubia is the proud mother of 5 -- two daughters and three sons. Her first 2 babies were born in the hospital. And her last 3 were born at home with midwives. After seeing a need in her community, Nubia has actively worked to fill that need by providing necessary childbirth education, lactation support, and now midwifery care to a population that has been historically disenfranchised and to this day still feels the effects of segregation and racial health disparities. Her organization, Birth from the Earth, Inc., activates and engages the community through perinatal education, comprehensive trainings, inclusion, and holistic care. For more information please visit her website and follow her on instagram @birthfromtheearth.

Art of Birthing

Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth by Dana-Ain Davis

In this season finale episode, Isis and Chae interview Shayla Brown, community doula, childbirth educator and founder of Genesis Birthing and Living. Chae calls Shayla a "pioneer woman" because she broke new ground in mothering in her family. She was the first in her family to have a home birth, to breastfeed, and to embrace natural, unmedicated childbirth as a preference and strategy for survival. Shayla is a wife, a mother of 4 (with 1 on the way!) and an advocate for natural birth options for Black women. Shayla has given birth naturally 4 times: Once in a hospital, twice at home with midwives and doulas, and once assisted only by her husband. While Shayla acknowledges the obstacles against Black women birthing, she does not accept them. Shayla she has overcome enough of those obstacles to believe that with the help of God, access to knowledge, and strong support systems, trauma-free birth is abundantly available to Black women.

Visit Shayla's online Training Academy below:

https://genesis-birthing-and-living-academy.teachable.com/

Follow Shayla on social: 

Facebook: GenesisBirthingandLiving

Instagram: @GenesisBirthingAndLiving

"Birth is the Revolution," y'all! This week Isis and Chae interview Sista Midwife, Nicole Deggins, CNM, who is one of the leading birth advocacy experts in the US. Nicole, a NOLA native, is a sought-after trainer, public speaker, and community educator who works to eliminate perinatal disparities and bring light to the broken medical-obstetrical model of birth. Nicole knows hospital birth extensively and was a labor and delivery nurse before becoming a nurse midwife. Now, through her business Sista Midwife Productions, Nicole has provided full-spectrum, community-based training for dozens of cohorts of doulas or birth companions who hope to improve birth outcomes. Nicole's latest project is the Birth Story Project. Isis and Chae first met at Nicole's doula training and appreciate Nicole for creating this full-circle moment, sharing her birth story (home-to-hospital transfer), and discussing how doulas and midwives are important to reclaiming birth especially for Black birthing people.

Check out the largest Black doula and midwife directory at www.sistamidwife.com

Follow Nicole on IG! 

@sistamidwife

@thebirthstoryproject

Show dedication: In Loving Memory of Tayo's father--DeShon Reddick, Sr. “Demo,” The King of B Boy Soul.

Isis and Chae open this episode discussing self-care and its importance in pregnancy and postpartum healing. Chae also mentions her love for moxibustion. We continue the self-care conversation with Tayo on Patreon with our monthly subscribers.

This episode features Tayo Mbande--a Californian living in Chicago, a homebirth mama, birthworker, and co-founder of Chicago Birth Works Collective. She founded the collective with her mother, Toni Taylor, who has always been a supportive force and doula to Tayo especially for the birth of Tayo's youngest daughter born who was born at home without a trained medical professional present. Tayo struggled during this pregnancy when her father passed away when she was 13 weeks pregnant. She and her husband created a community who provided prenatal care support and preparation for their family birth. This manifested as a "birth village" holding monthly planning meetings. During her pregnancy, Tayo experienced bladder prolapse and a shifted pelvis. She was able to receive excellent care from Black women providers. She praises Lakieta Edwards CNM who held space for her grief and Dr. Rolande Balan at Hyde Park Chiropractic who "changed her life."

Recommended Reading:

Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines

Birthing Justice