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I fell in love with the idea of pregnancy and birth at the age of sixteen and thirty years later I still can't get enough of it! I am thankful that I got the opportunity to have a child of my own and to be able to experience, firsthand, the powerful forces that enable a woman to bring life into this world. Although I had been a midwife five years when I delivered my son, I never fully appreciated the journey until I travelled the road myself. I discovered, as a woman, that being "with woman" was infinitely more important to me than practically anything else and every year that I continue to have the privelege of attending women in childbirth, I marvel at the wondrous, awesome power that is inside each and every one of us. I discovered, as a mdwife, that I had all that I needed to do the job already and all that was left for me to do was to "be there" watching and waiting diligently, patiently, rarely using the emergency skills I learned in school. I see it as my personal mission to guide, support and encourage pregnant and laboring women and families. I have seen the growth and the confidence that comes when there is an understanding of the process and a firm belief that this is, after all, a safe and natural process for EVERY healthy women. Most importantly I see the bonding, the knitting together of mother to child, mother to partner, to family and community. As women of color I firmly believe we MUST rebuild our community spirit, our faith and trust in ourselves and our connectedness that has carried us through centuries of pain. Healing and health is imperative for ALL of our futures - and it begins with BIRTH.
Please take time to look through the links below. Post your questions and comments on the forum, share your pregnancy or birth story with your sisters and know that worldwide, every woman who ever had a baby understands.
Jennie
Keep an eye out for this upcoming book by Katherine Barber
African American Breastfeeding Alliance - a wonderful resource dedicated to providing information, education and support for breast feeding within the African American community.
Welcome! We're glad you're here because foodborne illness is a serious health risk for pregnant women and their unborn babies. You'll find accurate, easy-to-understand information about foodborne illness.
Breast Feeding Telephone Support from AABA
Mon- Fri 9-5pm est. Call toll-free at (877) 532-8535.
What an amazing concept! The perfect food, custom made for your baby, always balanced nutritionally, sterile, correct temperature and readily accessible - breast feeding is certainly best feeding! The only problem is that despite endless benefits for both mom and baby, African American women do not breastfeed their babies as often or for as long as their white counterparts. I often tell my patients that although they do their very best to take care of their baby during their pregnancy, the most important part once the baby is born, is to continue the same level of nutrition that the placenta was providing. There is no such thing at the store as "Formula for Jennie's Baby" - it's called by it's brand name and is absolutely the same every time. Change only comes when the newest version of "closest to breast milk" comes out. We allow ourselves to accept something that is not yet advertised as "the same as breast milk", knowing that it will probably never be able to be the same, but we buy into the supposed convenience, modesty and, sadly, tradition that says it is ok to feed our children this way. Consider that breast milk is designed for each individual fetus and like our blood types "matches" the baby better than any other form of nutrition that could be provided. If your baby needed a blood transfusion and matched your blood type, would you ask the doctor to check with the blood bank first, or would you be donating your blood?
African-American Teens Show Sharpest Drop
The Out-of-Hospital Birth Center: Candy's story
Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS), also known as the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (BWHBC), is a nonprofit, public interest women’s health education, advocacy, and consulting organization.
