On today's podcast we're going to talk with Paula Richards about advocacy work as a trauma-informed nurse educator. 

Paula Richards (she/her) is a perinatal nurse and nurse educator who likes to nerd out about OB-related nursing professional development on Instagram under the handle @NurseBrownGirl. Paula joined the Evidence Based Birth® Instructor program in the spring of 2020 and she's also a guest teacher in the videos of our Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class where we talk about interventions during childbirth.

We talk about Paula’s journey to become a nurse and her experience of unlearning traumatic childbirth practices that are problematic and harmful for birthing people. We also talk about the gap between evidence, human rights, and actual practice, as well as the need for more ethical nurse education.

Content warning: We will talk about traumatic childbirth and obstetric abuse. This episode also contains strong language, swear words, and how binary language/terminology is routinely used in labor and delivery.

If you'd prefer to read a transcript without swear words you can find that on our blog here.

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Paula Richards on Instagram here. 

Learn more about The Business of Being Born here.

Learn more about “Are There Benefits to Uterine Massage in the Third Stage of Labor” here. 

Learn more about the Association of Women's Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) here. 

Learn more about “white supremacy culture” by Tema Okun here.

Learn more about Cristen Pascucci and Birth Monopoly here.

Learn more about Mandy Irby of The Birth Nurse here. 

Learn more about Maggie Runyon of Your Birth Partners Podcast here.

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EvidenceBasedBirth/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ebbirth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/ebbirth/). Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/). Find an EBB Instructor here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/find-an-instructor-parents/), and click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/childbirth-class/) to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

On today’s episode, we celebrate our 200th episode on the Evidence Based Birth®podcast, where Ihotu Ali, EBB Research Associate, will be talking with our founder, Rebecca Dekker, about solidarity in birth work.

In this episode, Ihotu asks Rebecca about her cultural upbringing, and Rebecca reflects candidly on racism and cultural differences she witnessed as a child growing up in the suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee. We also explore the harmful impacts of white privilege and white supremacy on birth and reproductive justice work, as well as oppressive agendas that harm communities of color and other marginalized communities. 

Ihotu and Rebecca also talk about solutions such as doing inner work, educating yourself, understanding your ancestry, creating solidarity with those from other cultural groups, protecting Black women and girls (vs. being a savior), and being aware of how your actions and words may have harmed people from marginalized groups.

Content warning: We mention racism, white supremacy culture (including aspects of anti-black white supremacy), the uprisings in Minneapolis, the murder of George Floyd, racialized violence against Black communities.

RESOURCES:

Listen to EBB 143 - "Birthing in a World with Reproductive Justice" here.

Listen to EBB 199 - " Writing about Racism's Effects on Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes" here. 

Learn more about “Readings For Diversity And Social Justice” by Maurianne Adams, Warren Blumenfeld, Carmelita Rosie Castaneda, Heather Hackman, Madeline Peters, and Ximena Zuniga here. 

Learn more about Minnesota Healing Justice Network here.

Learn more about the Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing here.

Learn more about Ijeoma Oluo here and “So You Want To Talk About Race” here.

Learn more about Ibram X. Kendi's “So You Want To Be Antiracist” here.

Learn more about Tema Okun’s “Aspects of White Supremacy Culture” here.

Learn more about Dr. Sayida Peprah here.

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EvidenceBasedBirth/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ebbirth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/ebbirth/). Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/). Find an EBB Instructor here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/find-an-instructor-parents/), and click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/childbirth-class/) to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

On today's podcast, we're going to talk with Ihotu Ali, MPH, who is writing about research on the effects of racism on pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Ihotu (“love” in the Idoma language) (she/her) is a prenatal and Maya Abdominal massage therapist with a Master's in Public Health, and a doctoral student in Chiropractic Medicine. Ihotu is the granddaughter of a traditional Nigerian Chief, of Polish-Irish farmers, is a graduate of Columbia University. Ihoutu also conducted maternal health research with the United Nations before becoming a doula in 2011.

Fascinated by the connections between western and traditional medicine, Ihotu spent a decade studying Afro-Indigenous and global cultural practices for childbirth, ancestral, and womb healing, which she is now alongside medical training in chiropractic care and the neuroscience of spirituality and meditation. Ihotu is the co-founder of the Minnesota Healing Justice Network, featured in Rolling Stone Magazine for their focus on rest for residents and healers through the 2020 Uprising. In response to burnout among healers, Ihotu formed the Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing - an interracial collective offering support to apprentices, as well as public courses on decolonizing and democratizing medicine and small business. Ihotu teaches on cultural birth and bodywork, appropriation, racism in health care, allyship, and economic justice tools like the sliding scale fee.

In this podcast episode, we talk about Ihotu’s shift towards researching the effects of racism on pregnancy and birth outcomes.  We also talk about how Ihotu practices self-care as a researcher of heavy topics, and the scope of our upcoming EBB Signature Article which will cover the history of racism and the evidence on racism's effects on preterm births, low birth weight, and perinatal mortality. 

Content Warning: We mention racism, preterm birth, police violence, COVID-19, maternal-infant death, and other adverse health outcomes.

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Ihotu Ali here and The Oshun Center here.

Learn more about the Minnesota Healing Justice Network here. Follow the Minnesota Healing Justice Network on Facebook and Instagram. Listen to EBB 143, “Birthing in a World with Reproductive Justice” here. 

Learn more about Ancient Song here. Follow Ancient Song on Instagram and Facebook. 

Learn more about Dr. Rachel Hardeman and the Roots Community Birth Center here. Learn more about Dr. Hardeman’s research here. Read Dr. Hardeman’s Stolen Breaths here. 

Learn more about Dr. Sayida Peprah here. 

Learn more about Black Mamas Matter Alliance here.

Learn more about the Momnibus Act bill here.

Learn more about the Medicaid Postpartum Expansion here. Listen to EBB 187 with Dr. McLemore and Dr. Taylor here.

Learn more about Jennie Joseph here. Learn more about Commonsense Childbirth here. Learn about “The JJ Way: Community-Based Maternity Center Evaluation Report” here. Listen to EBB 136 here.

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EvidenceBasedBirth/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ebbirth/), and Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/ebbirth/). Ready to get involved? Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/become-pro-member/). Find an EBB Instructor here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/find-an-instructor-parents/), and click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/childbirth-class/) to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.