Tag: evansville indiana

Welcome Doula Abigail Hand!

When most doulas join our team, they are just starting out on their journey, which is humbling to be trusted to help them get started. However, Abigail brings a very different set of seasoned hands and skills to the team, and I’m honestly honored that she is going to join our already awesome group of doulas. Not only has Abigail already attended more than 100 births as a doula, but she’s also done most of that outside of the United States! Abigail’s patience and fascination with all things birth was apparent from the first time we spoke, and her Christian faith is also an important part of her life. She’s impressively knowledgeable and compassionate, as well as a little goofy, so clearly she’s going to fit right in on our team.

In Her Own Words:

Abigail was born in Evansville. Grew up in Indiana then spent 8.5 years living in Australia and Asia working as a Birth Doula and trained Midwife. Mid 2022 Abigail moved back to Indiana and made her home in Evansville. Abigail enjoys teaching about pregnancy, birth, and caring for your newborn. She is always up for a laugh and regularly is attempting new nutritious recipes. Her passion for caring, supporting, and nurturing women has grown throughout the years as she has witnessed women from many cultural backgrounds lean on her for support and wisdom throughout their pregnancy and as they enter into motherhood. 

Why did you want to become a birth doula? 

When I saw the beauty, joy, and pain of a baby entering the world 14 year ago, I knew I wanted to support women through this vulnerable and transforming time in their lives. 

What do you love about living in Evansville? 

Honey + Moon Coffee Shop, Bike Riding Lanes, and the River. 

Where can we find you on a regular Saturday? 

Spending time outdoors with my Husband. 

Abigail is available!!

If you are due September 2023 or later and giving birth within an hour drive of Evansville, IN, Abigail is available to be your birth doula! Abigail has extensive experience supporting both hospital and home birth clients. Working part-time as a midwifery assistant does take up some of Abigail’s time, but she’s really excited to jump into birth doula work in Evansville, Jasper, Vincennes, Washington, Henderson, Owensboro, & Madisonville too. If you see her around town, make sure you tell her welcome back to Evansville. We’re so lucky she’s here and excited to have her join Doula Group of Evansville too.

5 Things to Pack for Your Hospital Birth

Packing for the hospital when you are expecting a baby can feel a little daunting. Sure, you want to pack the essentials like an outfit for your baby to wear home and the car seat, what do you really need to pack for yourself? I’ve had some clients bring only their purse and others who look like they are moving abroad for year with giant suitcases full of stuff. Neither of those approaches are really my style, but there are a few essentials that you might not think about when it comes to packing your bags for your hospital birth. These are my top five:

Lip Balm

All that breathing in labor can make your lips dry. Kissing your baby’s head a million times can make your lips dry. All the talking you are going to be doing to all the people coming in and out of your room and on the phone telling everyone how amazing your baby is, that will make your lips dry too. Indoor air is dry, especially in a hospital. Trust me! Bring the lip balm.

Your Own Pillow & Blanket

While your first reaction to bringing your own pillow and blanket into a hospital might be ick, this one is essential. Pillows can sometimes be hard to find in a hospital, and their blankets are not exactly known for being fuzzy and soft. Bringing your own pillow and blanket also has the extra added bonus of helping your room feel more like your own, and smelling like home helps your body actually feel safer too. Thank you olfactory senses & pheromones! Comfort is important during your stay, and I promise that your washing machine has a disinfect cycle that you can use on the pillow and blanket when you get them back home.

Cheap Nightgown & Slippers

One of my doula secrets is that the cheap nightgowns that button or snap up in the front are seriously awesome for the hospital. Pants aren’t great because of needing to pull them down all the time for your nurse to check your bleeding, and if you have a surgical birth you will constantly worry about the waistband. Easy access to your chest is essential, so definitely something to look for when you are shopping for a nightgown. I also recommend not purchasing anything you actually really love, because you want to not feel bad for getting bodily fluids on it and maybe just throwing it away. Slippers are just nice for your feet to not have to touch the hospital floor. I don’t know about you, but I definitely feel like I have to relax when I’m wearing slippers too.

Snacks

Yes, the hospital will have food for you, but packing your own snacks can help bring you comfort too. Have a favorite road trip snack? Pack it! Have a snack you’ve been craving your whole pregnancy? Pack it! Planning an unmedicated birth and having a healthy pregnancy? Pack some snacks to eat & drink during labor too! Yes, seriously!

Nursing Bra & Pads

No matter how you are planning to feed your baby, you will want to bring a nursing bra and some pads. If you are planning to breastfeed, then having access to the breast is essential, and the nightgown is only part of the deal. The nursing bra is not entirely essential, but I personally always liked to have one for when I slept. I really like this one from Kindred Bravely, but there are tons of really great options. I also always appreciated having the absorbent pads to put in my bra, because when my milk came in it was full force. If you are planning to formula feed, a tight bra and some pads will help keep your milk at bay. You can also talk to the lactation consultants about other ways to dry up your milk with medications. (Yes, they do that too.) Having a bra on also helped me feel more comfortable with all the people who were constantly coming in and out to check on me in the hospital. That’s just a personal preference thing.

Figuring out what to pack for your hospital birth doesn’t have to be overwhelming. There are tons of packing lists that you can find online if you like a good list. These are the 5 essentials that not everyone thinks about bringing. The nice thing is that even if you forget something, either the hospital will have it for you, or you can send someone to the store to grab it. Heck, you could even have it delivered. Packing a little something nice for yourself, like delicious smelling shampoo for the best shower you’ve ever had in your life, the one after you give birth, is also a great idea. Pack the things you think you’ll need, and I promise, you’ll probably bring less with you the next time.

3 Ways Doulas Support Partners

Your doula will never know you as well as your partner. Some partners don’t want to hire a doula because they are concerned that we might replace them. That is frankly never the goal of our doulas, though there have been a few times when we’ve had to step in because a partner couldn’t be there for multiple reasons. The truth is that hiring a doula helps support partners too. I’ve supported clients whose partners were in the birth pool squeezing their hips and others whose partners had to hide their eyes during their entire labors because everything medical made them nauseous. I’ve caught dads who passed out at the sight of blood and helped others find better places to stand for camera angles. Here are the top 3 ways that doulas help partners. 

Knowledge

Doulas help partners know what is going on in the birth room and during postpartum. We answer all kinds of questions like: is that normal? Is everything ok? What’s going on? Why are they suggesting that? Where should we go for help? Our doula knowledge helps not only reassure partners, but also help them ask good questions too. We suggest resources specifically for partners to learn if they’re interested. All Doula Group of Evansville packages come with access to Supporting Her (a $69 value) an online class specifically designed with partners in mind, because we know you want to know how to be the best support you can be too! 

Practical Support

Partners need physical support too! I’ve seriously massaged more than one dad’s shoulders during the course of a long labor, and reminded more partners to pee than I can count. We help partners find pillows and towels in the hospital room, or make sure they know when a good time to sneak to the cafeteria to eat would be. We help you know where to press on their back when contractions come and remind you to hydrate too. Postpartum doulas will teach you the best swaddle and bring you a one-handed snack while you’re rocking in the chair with your newborn. Doulas are the extra set of hands that anticipate everyone’s needs! 

Emotional Support 

I’ve waited outside the doors to the operating room with anxious worried partners waiting to be called back. I’ve hugged a sobbing father whose baby was born sleeping, and handed more tissues to silently crying and ecstatic partners. I’ve reassured frustrated partners that yes, they can and should speak up when they’re not getting the answers or care they need. This holding space for partners is a dance that we know and prepare for as doulas. This is one of the reasons we want to meet with you and your partner before birth and postpartum; getting to know you and your wishes helps us help you better. 

Doulas help partners participate and engage however they want and are able to. We never try to step on partner toes, literally or figuratively! We love all kinds of partners and know each family is unique. Having a doula on your team can help you have a better experience too. When you’re ready, we’re here to support your whole family from your wet pregnancy test all the way through the 4th trimester.

A little anecdote for you: pre-COVID, I taught a 3 hour class on natural coping techniques for labor and delivery. I had been talking to this awesome pregnant mom who really wanted to hire me as her birth doula but her husband didn’t want to spend the money, and they came to my class. After 3 hours, her husband was 100% convinced that they definitely needed to hire me as their doula. Unfortunately, I was already booked for their due date, but I know they had an awesome birth anyway. If you’re on the fence about hiring a doula, reach out to set up a FREE consult together. We’d love to chat!

Know Better, Do Better

When I was pregnant the first time, I was completely overwhelmed by the process that seemed to be shrouded in mystery. No, not the birth part, that I could find good information about. The great unknowns of how to find a provider, navigating where to go, what to ask, & evaluating my options were the real frustration for me. I did seriously look at the person doing my intake forms with me and say, “this is really confusing, and I’m a graduate student! I can’t even imagine how confusing this system would be for someone with less resources!” No, a doula can’t help you figure out your insurance, BUT here are 3 ways that doulas help demystify things for you:

We’ve Been There!

Yes, most of us have kids and have been there personally, but we’ve ALL been there professionally. As a team, if someone hasn’t been to a birthing location before, we fill each other in on all the details. It’s important to know which door to go to in the middle of the night or if you as the doula are going to be allowed into the triage room with your client. Our experience helps demystify the specifics with each other, but also with our clients. One thing that we focus on during our 2nd prenatal visit with our birth doula clients is discussing logistics. When should you call your doula? Where will we meet up when you’re in labor? All our birth doula clients also get postpartum planning sessions, to try to get your brain thinking about life with a newborn. Having been there, we know how important it is to have a roadmap for when things get foggy. We also know that talking about options and preferences helps take away the mystery and get you started thinking about resources and questions.

Resources Galore

Even if you have great questions, that doesn’t always mean you know where to ask them. Sharing local resources and connections are things that doulas do. I remember being a first time parent and struggling with lactation and not knowing who was knowledgeable enough to help me. Feeding resources are just one place that doulas can help point you in the right direction. This may not sound like a big deal, but doulas make having those resource lists for you a priority so that you don’t have to go searching. We don’t have an opinion about how you do things either, which as a new parent is pretty priceless really.

We hold YOU!

As you’re navigating your life that’s shifted 30 different ways since you got pregnant, your doula holds you. We remind you that shifting is normal and help you find your way forward. This is the kind of demystifying that you don’t often appreciate until it happens to you. Validating your feelings and helping you know that you’re not alone is what having a doula on your team does for you. We remind you that you don’t have to have it all figured out and that pausing in the unknown is ok too. My doula held me as I wrestled with all the options, my doula not only gave me the information to come to my own understanding and decisions, but also the space to do so without pressure. That was so helpful for me, and I know our clients really appreciate it.

How we work

If you’re interested in talking about having a doula for your birth or postpartum team (or both), we’d love to talk to you. You can use this link to schedule a FREE 30 minute call to talk about your needs and who on our team might be a good fit to work with you. We’d love to demystify the doula process for you too.

Don’t Worry, Be Picky

Choosing a care provider that fits isn’t always easy.

After the shock of the positive pregnancy test wears off a little bit, one of the first things you will need to decide is WHO you are going to have as your care provider for this pregnancy and birth. If you’re like me, you start by asking your friends who they used for their pregnancies, and then you make an appointment. Other people make an appointment with their usual GYN and leave it at that. Here are a few things you want to think about when you’re choosing a provider:

Does their idea of birth align with yours?

All providers have ideas about birth based on their training and experience (both professional and personal btw). Generally, OBs are watching to make sure nothing goes wrong and midwives are watching to make sure everything goes right. While that may not sound like a huge difference, I urge you to think about what their expectations might be with each of those approaches. OBs are generally looking to DO something to help while midwives are looking to NOT have to do anything to help. This is a really broad generalization, but an important distinction when you’re thinking about the kind of care that you’re looking for, and the same answer isn’t right for everyone. Think about your specific situation and how you’d like to approach birth. Research has shown, that the provider you choose can make a difference in how your baby comes out in case you didn’t know that already. Here are a few things you might want to know your provider’s attitude about:

  1. Weight Gain: What limits do they have for you? When do they get concerned about baby’s weight in utero?
  2. Ultrasound: How many & when? Why?
  3. Induction: When? Why? How?
  4. Questions: When & where can you ask them? How long are usual appointments?
  5. Schedule: How often are you on call? Who do you share call with? Surgery days?

Location AND Provider Matter

Many times your insurance will dictate which hospital or group of providers they will cover. Look at some of the stats for the location where you’re planning to delivery. You won’t be able to look at provider specific data, but you can definitely ask potential providers their cesarean and episiotomy rates by the way. What about their induction rates? All of these things add up to the way that pregnancy and birth are handled at an institutional level. Is birth handled like an emergency no matter what? Is the staff trained in trauma-informed care? What does it look like to arrive in labor and to go through triage? Can you get a tour before the big day? You’ll have plenty of unexpected things to navigate during your pregnancy and birth, but the location and your treatment shouldn’t honestly be one of them. What are their policies about eating and drinking during labor? What kind of pain relief options do they have? Is anesthesia on site at all times? Do they support VBAC?

This can all seem really overwhelming, especially to first time parents that haven’t ever had to deal with any of these questions. Maybe you’re still trying to figure out how YOU feel about these things before you even can have an opinion about how your provider does. That’s ok, seriously. As doulas, we want you to feel ready to make these decisions. We want to give you all the information you might need to figure out how YOU want to approach pregnancy and birth without any bias. This is one of the reasons we highly recommend a quality childbirth education course for everyone by the way.

Not the vibe?

Finally, it needs to be said that if a provider isn’t the right fit for you, then it’s ok to move on and find someone else. You have NO OBLIGATION to stay with a provider just because you’ve established care or even because you’ve been seeing them since you were a teenager for GYN services. Chances are, they’re so busy they may not even realize you’ve stopped coming to them. Also of note: YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO SWITCH AT ANY TIME, including during labor. You are under ZERO obligation to be cared for by anyone who is not the right fit. You have the right to fire them on the spot and ask for someone else, yes, seriously…including your nurse btw. While that might sound scary, so is being cared for by someone you don’t trust during labor and delivery! You’re the boss applesauce, and if anyone in your space makes you feel anything other than that, you can make a change at any time!

Choosing a provider doesn’t have to be overwhelming. This is one of the things we cover in our FREE E-Book: Getting Started. We also talk about this stuff with all of our clients. Even if you have a limited pool to choose from, we can talk to you about our experiences with different providers. Yes, we do have a list of providers we won’t work with too, and we’re happy to tell you who they are if you ask! You deserve the best, no matter what your skin color, income, or insurance situation is. Demanding better options and hitting the bad providers in the pocketbook is the only way we’re going to make change here, clearly.

I <3 This Community

11 days ago my family, including our sweet dog Buzz was safely outside staring at our house burning down. We lost almost everyTHING in that fire, including our cars. Everyone is ok, and honestly as quickly as it happened, I’m so very grateful for that. That is a picture of my living room the next day. I’ve met with clients in that living room. There is an antique birth stool on the table in the center of the picture that was a gift to me from my mother in law. I do NOT recommend losing your home and everything in it, including your cars, in a house fire, but I want to share a few lessons with you about it here:

Our Community is Amazing!

There were 7 fire trucks at my house in less than 15 minutes. That was impressive. They were all so incredibly kind, and I even got to see a familiar face who took a selfie with me…yes, seriously. Our neighbors came out to put clothes and shoes and blankets on us immediately. We sat in one neighbors’ house when it started to rain. We have had an endless stream of kindness coming our way ever since, and honestly have never felt so surrounded in love.

My doula community both here and around the world has also come together to help us feel the love. My doula mentor Robin Elise Weiss, who many moons ago also had a house fire, has been indispensable! She seriously ran a board meeting for me y’all. I’ve gotten messages from Australia, Germany, California, Canada, Mexico, and sooo many other places, and my heart is so full right now because of them.

2 Small Things

We had a small fire-proof box with all our important documents inside it like our marriage certificate, passports, etc. Get one if you don’t already have one and go make sure all your important documents are actually in it if you do. Change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Seriously, go check them! They can save you. If you don’t have one in your garage already, do that too!

Choose Kindness

There have been incredibly kind people that we’ve interacted with, and then there have been the outlier jerks. When in doubt, choose kindness every single time. I have learned so much about trauma and recognized much of it in myself and my family these past 11 days. We will continue to focus on the goodness and laugh about the ridiculous people, but seriously, choose to be kind to everyone you meet. You never truly know what someone else is dealing with in their life.

Pieces are starting to fall into place for what our life is going to look like for now. We’ve rented a house already where we can stay for the next year if we need to. Life goes on, and we are so thankful for all the kindnesses and for each other more than ever before really. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us. Doula life continues, and I’m so grateful for the awesome team here that has provided seamless services as I’ve worked to get back to my managerial role. They have continually amazed me as I asked them to step into some roles that I typically have filled. I seriously LOVE this community more now than I even probably could have before this fire. Thank you.

Insider Information

Doulas have the inside scoop on local options without any of the insider bias and protections.

As a doula who has been working here since 2014, I’ve learned quite a bit of insider information that can be really helpful in several situations for expecting families. I recently had a great conversation with a nurse friend who was bemoaning the fact that because she works at a specific facility, she can’t warn people about specific provider habits or tell them all the things that she wishes she could because of policy. My reply, “I do that!” As doulas we are employed by our clients, therefore we answer to them. We get to say the quiet part that hospital employees might know but can’t say out loud, and that’s a pretty valuable service that doulas can offer. Here are three ways that we use that type of insider information with our outside voices.

Provider Selection

Have you ever wondered if your provider is the one driving up the episiotomy rate? The biggest issue I see is a lack of transparency regarding individual practice statistics. Until that issue gets solved, we doulas are happy to tell you what we’ve seen with our clients’ providers. Since 2014, we’ve had the privilege to be able to see most of the providers in our service area catch babies. That means that we know which ones like to pull the old bait and switch–telling you what you want to hear your whole pregnancy and switching gears to their agenda at the end, so late that you don’t even feel like you have a choice to switch to another provider. We know which providers deal well with push back and which ones don’t. We know which ones love to help you have a great experience in the OR and which ones will talk about sports ignoring all of your wishes. Wondering if your pediatrician is going to judge you for exclusively pumping or using a supplementary nursing system? We can tell you that! If you’re looking for a provider, don’t ask your friends or some random group of strangers on the internet all of whom probably only have experience with one or two providers max; ask a group of doulas who’ve actually seen them work and can talk to you about those experiences.

Policy vs Evidence

In case you don’t know, there are a TON of maternity care policies and practices that aren’t based on the scientific evidence at all. As doulas, we can not only tell you what the policies are, but we can also remind you that a hospital policy is not the law. In case nobody has ever told you: you cannot be arrested for drinking water during labor. We work for you, and know that not only is this type of policy not based on the latest scientific evidence or statements from organizations like the American Society of Anesthesiology, but also that it is cruel. We’ll remind you that you are the boss of your own body and you get to make all the decisions regarding what goes in and how things come out too. That’s doesn’t always make us popular, but it does make our clients happy.

Reporting

Whenever we repeat stories of medical mistreatment, we often hear the refrain, “oh I hope they will report them.” It’s pretty hard to report behavior if you don’t know how to do the actual reporting. Not only will we doulas help point out bad behavior, but we’ll help you know how to report it if that is something that you want to pursue. Seriously, we know what to do and will be happy to help you write the correct letters and deliver them to the correct people to help make sure people are held responsible. Reporting obstetric violence is really important to us by the way, and even if the information is supposedly publicly available, we know that finding it can be challenging and especially overwhelming when you have a new baby.

One of the benefits of being a doula is that we get this insider perspective without having any of the bias that comes from being employed by the facility or providers that we work with regularly. We’re employed by our clients. That kind of freedom comes with all the usual self-employment caveats, but it also means that we’re free to say the quiet part out loud. We’re free to talk about our experiences and let people know about which providers we wouldn’t send our worst enemy to versus who we’d let catch our babies. (Yes, there are a few locally that I’d still let do that.) That essence of doula service, the outsider with insider knowledge, is KEY to why we’re such a valuable part of your team!

Is your Cervix ready?

Preparing your cervix for birth might be something to think about and discuss with your provider.

The cervix is the narrow passage at the lower end of the uterus that changes to open and allow the baby (or babies and hopefully the placenta[s] too) to come out for a vaginal birth. Your cervix has a whole bunch of changing to do to get that to happen, including thinning out (effacement), moving from pointing toward your back to your front (posterior to anterior), and opening from 0cm dilation to 10cms. That’s a whole lot of change to happen in a relatively short amount of time for most people. But cervixes can also be confusing, especially when you’re trying to determine if you’re ready to give birth or not. Here are 3 consternating things about cervixes that you might not know!

1. Checks

Checking your cervix is a really common thing for providers to want to do in the office before you ever go into labor. Practices vary as to when this happens, BUT what we do know is that your cervix is NOT a crystal ball. Checking your cervix when you aren’t in labor isn’t necessary, especially if you are planning to wait to go into labor on your own. If you’re planning an induction, getting a cervical exam in the office is a great thing to do so you can talk about your Bishop Score with your provider. If you’re planning to wait, then saying “no thanks” is perfectly ok, as is just keeping on your pants.

Cervical checks when you are in labor are fairly standard. All the hospitals where we attend births require a cervical exam when you arrive to confirm that you are indeed in labor. It is really common to think that you’re in labor, when in fact your cervix isn’t changing at all. Since labor is defined as contractions that cause cervical change, that is why checking your cervix helps confirm this. I have of course seen people have babies without ever getting their cervix checked, mostly at home births and once at a hospital birth where the baby was pretty much born right after the clients arrived, but you should definitely expect to have your cervix examined by someone’s fingers when in labor.

2. Changes

Contractions commonly help your cervix change, BUT there are all kinds of factors that go into when and how your cervix changes. Some people have a cervix that doesn’t like to stay closed. The terrible medical term for this is “incompetent cervix.” Many people with this issue have a medical procedure called a cerclage to hold their cervix together until their baby is developed enough to be born. On the opposite end of that spectrum are people who have had a LEEP procedure. Often times those people have consistent powerful contractions yet struggle to realize change in their cervical dilation due to the buildup of scar tissue from that procedure. There are all kinds of other changes that can cause changes to your cervix to either speed up or slow down such as having had multiple previous births or other cervical procedures. These are definitely something to consider when you are thinking about your birth plan and when you’re preparing your body for birth.

3. Taking Charge

Have I peaked your interest? Did you know there are actually things that you can do to help get your cervix ready for labor? Evening Primrose oil capsules have been shown to help ripen your cervix and shorten the length of the first stage of labor. If you have scar tissue on your cervix, after a LEEP procedure for example, you can also talk to your provider about cervical massage for preparation and during labor too. These are just two of the methods that we know help people take charge of their cervical change before it even has a chance to hinder them.

The other thing we always suggest for people: educate yourself. If you don’t know what all the numbers that are being thrown around you in labor are because you didn’t get a chance to learn before, ASK! The people caring for you WANT you to know what’s going on so you can be an active participant in your care. Your cervix doesn’t have to be one more confusing thing about having a baby. It isn’t some cryptic cone that nobody knows anything about, its a body part that we actually understand fairly well. Pssst, even if you aren’t having a baby, your cervix is a pretty cool thing to understand regarding your fertility too. So take charge of your learning and get to know your cervix. You’ll feel so much better prepared to talk to your provider, ask better questions, & know what’s going on when the big birth day comes.

Black Birth Matters

This Black History Month I want to celebrate the 3 amazing black doulas on our team who are making history every single day! Tamika, Jessica, & Norma are 3 of the kindest humans you will ever meet. All 3 are birth doulas who love serving all kinds of families, but definitely have a very special heart to be able to serve families from the Black Community especially. We know how important culturally congruent care can be to all families, but especially here in the US where maternal mortality is 3-4 times higher for black birthing families than everyone else, and where racism is a daily fact of life.

These 3 doulas are all so very different, but the one thing they have in common is a personal understanding of the black experience here in Evansville. Their experiences help shape the type of doulas they are with all of their clients of course. Their compassion for the struggle of navigating the healthcare system all while worrying that whoever is in charge of your care might be judging you based on your skin color is impeccable. We LOVE the questions that they ask and their approach to helping families, and I learn from every single conversation that I get the chance to have with each of them.

I celebrate these doulas because of their bravery and knowing that this work is about so much more than representation. The human connection is what doula work is all about, and these 3 get it on a cellular level. They are proud black doulas here serving our community and raising beautiful children in a sometimes very challenging place.

I asked one of them what was hard about living here, and her reply was, “I think its because the racism is hidden, so its harder to decide who is trustworthy.” That was a gut punch of a statement, but of course a sentiment shared by many families of color. These doulas get it, because they live it. The best part though, “that we have such a great group of doulas supporting each other who all get it.”

We see you Tamika, Jessica, & Norma out here being the change you want to see in the world. Thank you for trusting this group to be part of your doula community. We appreciate your perspective and work so very much, and are here to support you in every way we can.

Celebrating Black History

February is Black History Month, and we will be taking the month to learn about anti-racism for the future as well as black history. We believe that learning about history from the perspectives of those who lived it is important if you can, and we LOVE the amazing resources that are available now in our community as well as nationally. In our line of work, black history is especially important for many reasons, one of which we’ll talk about in this post.

Before 1900, most babies were born at home into the hands of midwives, and the black granny midwives were a massive part of that legacy. In a country that continues to profit off the labor of stolen lives, this legacy of maternal and infant care is one that especially deserves to be celebrated. When chattel slavery was still legal in this country, midwifery was a skill that made a slave more desirable for purchase:

Smithsonian Open Access

Midwives were the connection between birthing families and the care they needed, and black midwives were often the only people who reach families where they were with congruent care tailored to their needs. That included when the birthing families were still in chains. When the US outlawed the importation of any further slaves, midwives helped usher the souls who would be chained to build our economy too. What a conflicted challenging life they were forced to lead. Even after the end of slavery, black midwives traveled the rural areas that doctors wouldn’t or couldn’t.

Smithsonian Open Access

When they could, black women continued to help their communities by attending medical school like Dr. Sarah Loguen Fraser who was the 4th African American female doctor in the United States. She specialized in obstetrics and pediatrics, and mentored black midwives too. Black communities held each other together throughout history here in the United States despite exploitation, oppression, and violence.

Smithsonian Open Access

Black midwives like Susie Cary, and her daughter Amanda Cary Carter after her, continued to help catch the babies in their communities, long after hospital birth became the norm amongst those who could afford it. Eventually, through a concerted public relations campaign that utilized racist tropes (such as dirty and uneducated) traditional black granny midwives were pushed out of practice. There are museum exhibits to explore and books to read now about their history. My to-read list includes these 2 currently: The Archaeology of Mothering & Birthing a Movement.

The most important thing to me about history is that we can learn from it. That means both that we can try to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, but also that we can benefit from the wisdom of the experience of others. As an anthropologist, I firmly believe that truly understanding history from the viewpoint of the oppressed and those not in power is especially important, and that makes black history top of the list in the United States for so many reasons. I specifically chose the featured image on top there because it is a colorized version of a black and white picture from a time in history that my parents can tell me stories about now; they lived it. History is a weaving together of multiple narratives and artifacts to find the truth in our past, all the while acknowledging that we are still very much impacted by the events we can only read about and observe through these things.

Keep learning. Stay curious. Interrogate your assumptions. We’ll keep doing so too!