birth justice

Part One: The Ol’ Mama Gang

“I saw my daughter for the first time in a vision while I was meditating.” LeConté Dill

After Dr. LeConté Dill’s vision in 2014, she met her husband, had an epic first date, eloped, and began her journey to motherhood. 

She soon discovered she would need some support to get pregnant, namely A.R.T.s - or assisted reproductive technologies. She leaned on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to conceive the baby of her literal dreams and gave birth in her early 40’s right before the lockdowns in NYC Spring 2020.

Tune in to hear how this crunk public health scholar:

• created sacred ceremony and rituals to support her process
• moved through the grief of miscarriage with poetry
• addressed disrespectful medical treatment
• received bomb-ass support from her mom, hubby, and doulas (Dana Ain-Davis - author of Reproductive Injustice - and Katy Cecen) during her pregnancy, labor, and immediate postpartum

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. To listen to the full interview, visit Patreon.com/TajaLindley.

Dr. LeConté Dill is a scholar, educator, and a poet in and out of classroom and community spaces from South Central Los Angeles, California. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University. She listens to and shows up for urban Black girls and other youth of color and works to rigorously document their experiences of safety, resilience, resistance, and wellness. Her work has been published in Poetry Magazine, Mom Egg Review, Journal of Poetry Therapy, and The Feminist Wire. Her full interview is available on Patreon (running time: 01:31:06).

Learn more about podcast guests here!

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Credits

Creator, Host and HBIC: Taja Lindley

Audio Engineering by Lilah Larson

Music by Emma Alabaster who also served as the Pre-Production Associate Producer

Additional Music Production by Chip Belton

Vocals by Patience Sings

Mixing and Mastering by Chip Belton

Lyrics by Taja Lindley and Emma Alabaster

Logo and Graphic Design Templates by Homegirl HQ

This podcast is produced by Colored Girls Hustle 

The parents adjust to life postpartum and the powerful transformations they've undergone.

Guest featured this episode: Crystal Starr Flowers

For transcripts and more, visit natalstories.com. Follow NATAL on Twitter and Instagram.

Ciara explores the multitude of care options after learning she's pregnant.

Guests featured this episode: Oriaku Njoku, Quita Tinsley Peterson, and Tanya Smith-Johnson

For transcripts and more, visit natalstories.com. Follow NATAL on Twitter and Instagram.

Taking matters into her own hands, Anasia charts new pathways to parenthood uniquely her own.

Featured guest: Dr. Tonya Hawkins Hunter

For resources on pregnancy loss, listen to our NPR Life Kit episode. 

For transcripts and more, visit natalstories.com. Follow NATAL on Twitter and Instagram.

CWHC’s Alternative Insemination (AI) Program was the first in the midwest specifically  designed to provide a path to pregnancy for folx who didn’t have access to sperm. In this episode, Mirror and a Flashlight explores the past and present of this groundbreaking program. First, we talk to Terri Kapsalis and Sandy McNabb, two early members of the program, about how CWHC shifted the landscape of parenthood for queer people seeking pregnancies. Then, we’ll meet Noshaba Bhatti, the current AI Program Coordinator, who shares what access and visibility look like today.

Learn more about Chicago Women’s Health Center and this podcast on our website at chicagowomenshealthcenter.org. For information on our Alternative Insemination Program Introduction workshops, visit our registration page here.

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Mirror and a Flashlight is made possible by our community of support. Our special thanks to Corbett Vs Dempsey, Women Unite!, Early to Bed, Women & Children First Bookstore, Laura McAlpine Consulting for Growth, and Mats Gustafsson and Catalytic Sound. 

This podcast was produced by Ariel Mejia and edited by A.J. Barks, Sarah Rebecca Gaglio, and Terri Kapsalis, with editorial support from Lisa Schergen.

Thank you to Sandy McNabb, Noshaba Bhatti, and Terri Kapsalis for participating in these conversations.

Make our work possible with a donation here.

For more information on some of the topics discussed in this episode, we recommend the following resources*:

• CWHC’s Self-Exam Kit includes a speculum, a mirror, a flashlight, and a self-exam guide for individuals with cervixes to learn more about their body, including cervical mucus. Self-Exam Kits can be purchased online in our Corner Store.

Resources referenced in this episode:

• The 1990 Chicago Lesbian Kiss-In featured on the 10% Show: made available through the Gerber Hart Library and Archives: Midwest LGBT History and Culture website.
• The Age That Women Have Babies: How a Gap Divides America: New York Times Article by Quoctrung Bui and Claire Cain Miller, August 4, 2018.

Books on Birth, Birthing Justice, and History of Grand (Granny) Lay Midwives:

• Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth edited by Julia Chinyere Oparah and Alicia D. Bonaparte
• Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
• Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA, a report by Amnesty International: the full 154-page report can be viewed and downloaded for free here (also available in other languages).
• Listen to Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife by Margaret Charles Smith and Linda Janet Holmes
• Why Not Me: The Story of Gladys Milton, Midwife by Wendy Bovard and Gladys Milton
• The Women Who Caught the Babies : A Story of African American Midwives by Eloise Greenfield
• Delivered by Midwives: African American Midwifery in the Twentieth-Century South by Jenny M Luke
• Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife’s Story by Onnie Lee Logan
• My Bag Was Always Packed: The Life and Times of a Virginia Midwife by Claudine Curry Smith and Mildred H.B. Roberson
• Granny Midwives and Black Women Writers, Valeria Lee
• African American Midwifery in the South: Dialogues of Birth, Race, and Memory by Gertrude Jacinta Fraser

Books on fertility awareness, understanding menstrual cycles, and reproductive health:

• A Donor Insemination Guide: Written by and for Lesbian Women, Lacy Frazer and Marie Mohler
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler
• The New Essential Guide to Lesbian Conception, Pregnancy and Birth, Stephanie Brill and Kim Toevs
• The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack
• The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians by Rachel Pepper

Books for Queer, Lesbian, and Single people attempting pregnancy or already parenting:

• Considering Parenthood: A Workbook for Lesbians, Cheri Pies
• For Lesbian Parents: Your Guide to Helping Your Family Grow up Happy, Healthy and Proud by Suzanne M. Johnson and Elizabeth O'Connor
• The Lesbian and Gay Parenting Handbook, Creating and Raising our Families, April Martin
• The Lesbian Parenting Book: A Guide to Creating Families and Raising Children by D. Merilee Clunis and G. Dorsey Green
• Pride and Joy: A Guide for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Parents by Sarah Hagger-Holt and Rachel Hagger-Holt
• Lesbian Parenting: Living with Pride and Prejudice, Katherine Arnup
• The Queer Parent's Primer, Stephanie Brill
• The Single Parent Resource Book, Brook Noel and Art Klein
• Single Mothers by Choice by Jane Mattes
• The Complete Single Mother by Andrea Engber and Leah Klungness

Films about Birth:

• The Business of Being Born (there is a part two to this film, which is a one-season series that was made available on Netflix)
• Bringin' in Da Spirit
• All My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story: an instructional film following granny midwife, Miss Mary Coley, and detailing the births of black people living in rural America in the 50's
• Freedom for Birth: The Mothers' Revolution - available to watch for free here with a library card
• Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret
• The Birth Reborn: a series of 3 films about birthing in Brazil, available on Netflix

*Some of these resources can be difficult to locate. We recommend checking with your local public library for titles that might be hard to find .

Season 1 Episode 12 is the season finale and features an interview with Evelyn Alvarez: mom, doula, trainer, and the world’s best hypewoman! She’s also the cofounder of Bronx Rebirth and Progress Collective. In this week’s episode Evelyn shares the tales and the tea of being a doula in NYC. She also shares insights on the politics of doula compensation, what is happening in NYC hospitals, how medical routines cause harm, and how our City can do a better job of increasing doula access to clients who want and need them.

Announcements:

• Help us grow and strengthen the podcast by filling out our listener survey!
• Share your story on the Birth Justice Podcast NYC! Fill out this form and we’ll be in touch to learn more about you and your experience(s).

Evelyn Alvarez’s Bio:
Evelyn Alvarez facilitates workshops for educators and parents about Restorative Justice and practices, race and equity, and other topics. She is also founder of Prom King, a nonprofit that donates clothes to urban students to enable them to participate in special life events. She is one of three lead trainers at Radio Caña Negra, where they lead workshops about anti-Blackness in the Latinx community and co-host the Radio Caña Negra podcast. Most recently she is a co-founder of Bronx Rebirth and Progress. This collective donates diapers and formula to families in need. Bx Rebirth offers low cost doula support, mentoring to new doulas, and supports advocacy efforts that seek to improve maternal health outcomes for Black people in New York.

References During the Episode:

• Donate to Bx (Re)Birth and Progress Collective via PayPal and through their registry on Target
• Follow Evelyn and Bx (Re)Birth and Progress on Instagram

Questions to Consider After the Episode:

• How might medical practices and policies, as well as health outcomes, change if we center the experiences of Black women and Black birthing people?
• What are the ways that routines can cause harm?
• What have medical institutions and policymakers named as values that could use more/additional resources?

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 11 features an interview with Nathalia Gibbs and Dana Kurzer-Yashin from the National Harm Reduction Coalition. In this week’s episode we dive into a harm reduction 101 crash course where we get into the definition, history and current landscape of harm reduction policies and practices. We then apply this information to better understand how pregnant people who use drugs are navigating prenatal care, childbirth, and the child welfare system; and how New York City and State can better support people who use drugs. This episode is a follow up to Season 1 Episode 10 where we discussed how the war on drugs fuels the child welfare system’s presence in the lives of pregnant and parenting New Yorkers.

About this week’s guests:
Nathalia Gibbs (They/She) is a queer black doula, organizer and passionate believer in harm reduction serving as LGBTQ and Harm Reduction Coordinator where she is currently working on building the Lighthouse Learning Collective.

Dana Kurzer-Yashin (she/her) is the Overdose and Harm Reduction Trainer developing and administering trainings on  harm reduction, safer drug use, trauma informed care and de-escalation and more.

National Harm Reduction Coalition is a national advocacy and capacity-building organization that promotes the wellbeing and dignity of people and communities affected by drug use. Their efforts advance harm reduction policies, practices, and programs that address the adverse effects of drug use including overdose, HIV, hepatitis C, addiction, and incarceration. Recognizing that social inequality and injustice magnify drug related harm and limit the voice of our most vulnerable communities, they work to uphold every individual’s right to health and their competence to participate in the public policy dialogue.

References During the Episode:

• Pregnancy and Substance: A Harm Reduction Toolkit
• The National Harm Reduction Coalition’s podcast The Gold Standard
• More info about Dr. Miska Terplan
• Orgs: 
  • Voices of Community Activists and Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
  • National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW)
  • AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power ACT UP
  • Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 10 features an interview with Erin Miles Cloud: a lawyer and a mother, as well as the Co-Director and Co-Founder of Movement for Family Power. In this week’s episode we do a deep dive into the womb to foster care pipeline and the ways in which hospitals and social workers are complicit in criminalizing poor parents and people who use drugs. We get into the relationship between the police department and child welfare services, and how the child welfare system incentivizes the separation of families.

Announcement:
Share your story on the Birth Justice Podcast NYC! Fill out this form and we’ll be in touch to learn more about you and your experience(s).

Erin Miles Cloud’s Bio:
Erin Miles Cloud is the co-director/co-founder of Movement for Family Power, and a former family defense public defender. She is  Baltimore born, and Bronx living.  She is Black mother of two beautiful children. 

References During the Episode:

• Movement for Family Power’s Ground Zero Report
• Follow Movement for Family Power on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
• BBC documentary “Guinea Pig Kids: ARV Babies in New York City”

Questions to Consider After the Episode:

• How can we better support pregnant people and parents who are poor? Who use drugs and substances? 
• When we consider abolition of police, we need to also consider all of the ways that police are embedded in social welfare programs. And how social welfare programs mimic the values and behaviors of police. 

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 9 features an interview with Nicole Jean Baptiste: a mother of two, a full spectrum community based doula, lactation counselor, yoga instructor, and oral historian. In this week’s episode we discuss Nicole’s journey into birthwork (which includes a bit about her own birth story) as well as the birth injustice she has witnessed in New York City as a doula and as an advocate. We also dive into doula work: from the importance of compensating doulas to valuing doulas as autonomous birthworkers. Nicole offers some sound suggestions and advice for what our City can do to better serve pregnant and parenting people, and folks of reproductive age.

Nicole Jean Baptiste’s Bio:
Of Southern American and Caribbean ancestry and based in the Bronx, New York, Nicole Jean Baptiste strives to center the borough and the Black experience in the birth and social justice activism in which she engages. Nicole is currently a Community Doula Consultant for the New York City Health Department’s COVID-19 Perinatal Taskforce. She is the founder of Sésé Doula Services and co-founder of the Bx (Re)Birth and Progress Collective. 

References During the Episode:

• Donate to Bx (Re)Birth and Progress Collective via PayPal and through their registry on Target
• Follow Nicole and Bx (Re)Birth and Progress on Instagram
• Birth Centers in NYC: Brooklyn Birthing Center, Jazz Birthing Center (sister center of the Brooklyn Birthing Center), and the Birthing Center of New York
• To learn more about Amber Rose Isaac and her death, you can read this article in The Guardian

Questions to Consider After the Episode:

• How can our City make doulas more accessible to people who want them and need them? 
• How can healthcare institutions and healthcare providers follow the lead of their patients and clients?

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 8 features an interview with Natasha Johnson: activist, artist, advocate, academic, attorney, yoga instructor and the founder of Globalizing Gender. In this week’s episode we discuss female genital mutilation and cutting - what it is, why and how it happens, how it impacts sexual and reproductive health (including pregnancy and childbirth), and how it shows up in New York City.

Natasha Johnson’s Bio:
Natasha has been an educator for 21 years and an attorney for 15 years. In 2015 she founded Globalizing Gender (GG) where she educates, prevents, and reforms Gender-Based Violence (GBV) through capacity building, rule of law, governance, and awareness. Natasha organized NYC’s inaugural march to end FGM/C in the United States and is currently co-authoring NYC’s first holistic FGM/C legislation. As an artist she curates public forums and creates editorial-styled work that critiques and raises awareness of GBV. Natasha earned her Juris Doctorate from CUNY School of Law, her yoga certification from Breathe for Change, and her Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia University. 

References During the Episode:

• TedX Talk: What to Expect When Feminism Starts at Five
• The New York Coalition to End Female Genital Mutilation

Questions to Consider After the Episode:

• Let's continue to investigate the many ways that people navigate and experience their health. What are other practices - whether they be cultural, religious, or personal - that impact how people experience their sexual and reproductive health?
• Let's consider the many ways that law enforcement permeates our society - especially social services. How do we ensure that folks who experience gender based violence are taken care of when/if we abolish police?

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 7 features an interview with Dr. Lynn Roberts: a mother, grandmother, professor, and scholar activist. In this week’s episode we discuss some historical moments of reproductive justice organizing and advocacy in New York City from the nineties and early 2000’s as well as the intersections of public health and reproductive justice in Lynn’s career and beyond.

Lynn Roberts’ Bio:
Dr. Lynn Roberts earned a Bachelor in Science in human development from Howard University (1984) and a PhD in Human Services Studies from Cornell University (1991). She is the Associate Dean of Student Affairs & Alumni Relations and a tenured faculty member in the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. Prior to CUNY, she oversaw the development, implementation and evaluation of several programs for women and youth in NYC. She is an emeritus board member of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and co-edited the anthology, Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique.

References During the Episode:

• [book] Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross and Ricki Solinger
• [book] Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts
• [book] Reproductive Injustice by Dana Ain Davis
• [book] Policing the Womb by Michele Goodwin
• Critical Race Theorists and Scholars: Kimberle’ Crenshaw, Chandra Ford

Questions to Consider After the Episode:
What are the frameworks and theories that guide your work? And how can those frameworks and theories influence (and be influenced by) your activism?

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 6 features an interview with Elizabeth Estrada ( commonly known as Eli) - a Mexican immigrant organizer based in the Bronx working on reproductive justice in New York City and State. In this episode we discuss fake clinics, also known as crisis pregnancy centers.

We do a deep dive into how fake clinics are intentionally confusing and coercing people to give birth by creating barriers and detours, as well as providing misinformation to people who are looking to learn about and access abortion.


Elizabeth Estrada Bio:
Elizabeth Estrada serves as the New York Field and Advocacy Manager at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. Previously, she served as the Civic Engagement Manager where she worked to raise the voices of Latinas nationally for policy change at all levels of government on issues that impact people's reproductive freedom and self-determination. Elizabeth immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico at the age of 4, where she remained undocumented until age 13. She began as a Sexual and Reproductive Health “Promotora” for the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Elizabeth has had the honor of organizing hundreds of women on reproductive justice in her 10 years of grassroots organizing experience.

References During the Episode:

• Reach out to Eli to get involved in the fight against fake clinics in The Bronx and throughout NY State email: newyork@latinainstitute.org
• Pro Truth New York: a coalition of reproductive health, rights, and justice advocates, policy makers, and service providers, united to fight fake abortion clinics
• Expose Fake Clinics: a national initiative created to tell the truth about manipulative, fake reproductive health centers
• Advocates for Youth: where Eli first shared her abortion story via their 1in3 campaign.
• Yo Te Apoyo: a campaign from Latina Institute to destigmatize abortion, and shift the culture to one of compassion and dignity.
• Renee Bracey Sherman: award winning reproductive justice activist and writer with expertise in public abortion storytelling and ending abortion stigma
• Lifting Latina Voices Initiative at the Feminist Women's Health Center in Atlanta, GA
• Legislation for a research board to measure impact of fake clinics: NYS Assembly passed the LSPC Study Bill (A.8212) on 7/21. It authorizes the Commissioner of Health to conduct a study and issue a report examining the unmet health and resource needs facing pregnant women in New York and the impact of limited service pregnancy centers

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 5 features an interview with Carmen Mojica. We discuss her journey into birthwork and motherhood, the history and current practice of midwifery, and what it will take to achieve birth justice in the Bronx and in New York City.

Carmen Mojica Bio:
Carmen Mojica CPM, LM CLC is an Afro-Dominicana born and raised in the Bronx. She is a midwife, mother, writer and reproductive health activist. The focus of her work is on the empowerment of women and people of the African Diaspora, specifically discussing the Afro-Latina identity. She utilizes her experience as a midwife to raise awareness on maternal and infant health for women, highlighting the disparities in the healthcare system in the United States for women of color. She is a cofounder of Bronx Rebirth and Progress.

References During the Episode:

• Donate to Bronx Rebirth and Progress via PayPal and through their registry on Target
• Pregnancy and Postpartum in the time of COVID-19: NYC Resources
• [Book] Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy and Childbirth edited by Julia Oparah and Alicia Bonaparte
• [Book] Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts
• [Book] Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington
• [Book] Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System Must Be Fixed to Put Women and Children First by Marsden Wagner
• Types of midwives: Certified Midwife, Certified Nurse Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife, 
• Certifying institutions: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)
• Robert Woods Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings and Road Maps

Questions to Consider After the Episode:

• How can we make midwifery more accessible in our City, namely Certified Nurse Midwives? 
• What are ways our City can provide resources for people to give birth outside of hospitals? This can be in people’s homes and in birthing centers.
• How can we shift conversations that focus solely on maternal mortality to take a look at the broad scope of how maternal healthcare is not serving the needs of pregnant and birthing people overall?

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 4 features an interview with Chanel Porchia Albert. We discuss how she became a doula, why she started Ancient Song Doula Services, the role of doulas in and beyond birthwork, and how Ancient Song is pivoting during this pandemic moment. We also chat about intergenerational hope and birthwork as political work for both the birthing person and the doula supporting them.

Chanel Porchia Albert Bio:
Commissioner Chanel L. Porchia Albert CD, CPD, CLC, CHHC is the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Ancient Song Doula Services: a reproductive health organization of over 70 full-spectrum community-based doulas focused on providing resources and full-spectrum doula services to women of color and marginalized communities throughout NYC and Northern New Jersey. She is a certified lactation counselor, midwifery assistant, and vegan chef who has served on various advisory boards throughout the country. When she is not working on legislative policy or facilitating workshops, you can find her spending time with her six children.

References During the Episode:

• Follow Chanel (@chanel_porchia) and Ancient Song Doula Services (@ancientsong) on Instagram
• Learn more about the Listen to Me Now! Campaign
• If you live in NYC and need a care package/box from Ancient Song, email info@ancientsongdoulaservices.com
• Donate to Ancient Song via PayPal or via their Amazon wishlist
• Stay tuned for announcements from Ancient Song about the Virtual Decolonizing Birth Conference in Fall 2020 and recipients of the Juneteenth Birthworker Seed Fund
• Young Lords takeover of Lincoln Hospital in 1970 on WNYC

Questions to consider after the episode:

• How can we center intergenerational hope in birthwork and community organizing?
• How to engage people who experience oppression and marginalization in political organizing and policy work? In world building work? How do we meet folks where they are so they too can bring their voices and experiences into the processes that shape our world? 
• Birthwork is political work. For birthworkers: what is the work you can do to address unequal birth outcomes and experiences?

Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of&

Season 1 Episode 3 features an interview with Leslie Grant Spann. We discuss her three birth stories, and do a deep dive into the history of reproductive justice community organizing via Sistas on the Rise in the Bronx, New York City and nationwide with young parents in the early 2000s.

Leslie Grant Spann Bio:
Leslie Grant-Spann began her work in social justice as a 15-year-old-mother working with Sistas on the Rise in the South Bronx. Leslie organized other young mothers around  access to education and childcare in New York with intersections to the larger reproductive justice movement. Leslie has served in a number of leadership positions: Executive Director of Sistas on the Rise (2007-2011); Secretary to the Board of Directors for SisterSong (2007-2013); and as a member of the Standing in Our Power Leadership team (2013-present). Leslie is the Director of Conferences and Convenings for Race Forward. In this role, Leslie is the Executive Producer of the Facing Race National Conference: the largest multiracial racial justice conference in the United States. Leslie also manages the production of over two dozen in-person and virtual events for the organization annually. In 2019 Leslie founded 31st Event Productions LLC which supports organizations and businesses to produce unique and inclusive in-person and virtual experiences to drive mission and brand awareness.

References During the Episode:

• Young Women United (now Bold Futures)
• Martha Neilson Schools (closed in 2007. Learn more about the closure’s effect on Sistas on the Rise and young parents on this blog post on Radical Doula)
• Organizations and projects in NYC that are no longer around but organized with Sistas on the Rise: Brooklyn Young Mothers Collective, Sister 2 Sister, Community Birthing Project

Questions to consider after the episode:
Leslie’s birth stories and history of reproductive justice organizing highlight some of the ways that multiple City agencies impact the health and well-being of parents and families. Consider: how do multiple systems and institutions impact health and families? Especially sexual and reproductive health, including pregnancy and childbirth. And how does this understanding impact how we organize communities for reproductive justice and birth justice?

Created and Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Season 1 Episode 2 features an interview with professor Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens. We discuss a brief history of American gynecology and we reflect on what this history means in present day gynecological care, including her own experiences of medical racism.

But before we jump into this week's episode, we take a moment of silence for Sha-Asia Washington - a 26 year old Black woman who died during childbirth in early July at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn. Say her name. Learn her story. Here is the gofundme page to support her newborn and her family.

Deirdre Cooper Owens Bio:
Deirdre Cooper Owens is the Linda and Charles Wilson Professor in the History of Medicine and Director of the Humanities in Medicine program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is an Organization of American Historians’ (OAH) Distinguished Lecturer and has won a number of prestigious honors for her scholarly and advocacy work. A popular public speaker, Dr. Cooper Owens has spoken widely across the U.S. and Europe. She has published articles, essays, book chapters, and think pieces on a number of issues that concern African American experiences. Her first book, Medical Bondage: Race, Gender and the Origins of American Gynecology (Univ. of Georgia Press, 2017) won the 2018 Darlene Clark Hine Book Award from the Organization of American Historians as the best book written in African American women’s and gender history.  Professor Cooper Owens is also the Director of the Program in African American History at the Library Company of Philadelphia, the country’s oldest cultural institution. She is working on a second book project that examines mental illness during the era of United States slavery and is writing a popular biography of Harriet Tubman that examines her through the lens of disability. 

References During the Episode:

• [Book] Medical Bondage: Race, Gender and the Origins of American Gynecology
• [Lecture] Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens presenting on her book Medical Bondage at Carnegie Mellon University (2019)
• [Organization] East Harlem Preservation Society (Marina Ortiz, founder)

Questions to consider after the episode:
What are some examples of practices, behaviors and policies that are considered “normal” in healthcare that do not sit right with you? Consider how racist practices, behaviors and policies have become so rampant and routine that they are accepted as a normal part of American healthcare.

Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

The first episode of the first season of the Birth Justice Podcast NYC features an interview between podcast host Taja Lindley and her mother, Adrianne Robinson. This episode - the birth of the Birth Justice Podcast NYC - is released on the same day as Taja’s birthday! Adrianne shares her journey into motherhood and what it was like to give birth to Taja in New York City in 1985.

Adrianne Robinson’s Bio
Adrianne Robinson has always had a passion for science and helping others, while growing up her passion translated into her career. Adrianne obtained her degree in nursing at Beth Israel School of Nursing, completing her program while 7 months pregnant with her first daughter, Taja Lindley. She likes to joke that Taja has an honorary degree in nursing because she graduated while pregnant with her. Adrianne is currently an RN with 30+ years of experience in various areas of the healthcare industry including geriatrics, hospice, and homecare. Adrianne has concluded that the hardest thing about motherhood is keeping your cool when others try to come for your kids.

Questions to Consider After the Episode

• What do our birth stories reveal about who we are and provide clarity about the lives we’re living? Also consider other births, other moments when you recreated yourself and are birthed anew.
• How do birth stories and origin stories reveal patterns that show up in the American healthcare system and in New York City? 

Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

In this pre-season (and pre- series!) prelude episode, the Birth Justice Podcast NYC host Taja Lindley shares what brings her to this podcast project, and what you can expect to hear and experience in Season 1 and beyond.

Links to information and resources that Taja references in this episode:

• [Book] Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts
• [Book] Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• [Article] Exam Rooms and Bedrooms: Navigating Queer Sexual Health on Rewire News
• Taja Lindley’s A Blade of Grass Fellowship Project: The Bronx Birth Justice Tribunal
• NYC Public Artist in Residence Program overview, including the culminating project for her first year: The Bronx Birth Justice Gathering (which was postponed due to COVID)
• [Organization] Southern Birth Justice Network and their Birth Justice Bill of Rights

Hosted by Taja Lindley
Produced by Colored Girls Hustle
Music, Soundscape and Audio Engineering by Emma Alabaster

Support our work on Patreon or make a one-time payment via PayPal
For more information visit BirthJustice.nyc

This podcast is made possible, in part, by the Narrative Power Stipend - a grant funded by Forward Together for members of Echoing Ida.

Martina explores the historical roots of modern obstetrics and gynecology. Dr. Joia Crear-Perry and Dr. Mimi Niles explain how flaws in medical education and research contribute to the Black birthing crisis.

In this episode we mention: Dr. Joia Crear Perry of the National Birth Equity Collaborative;  Dr. Mimi Niles of The Birth Place Lab;  and Healing Circle Podcast.

Visit natalstories.com to learn more about NATAL, access our resource hub, and donate to our production fund.

Follow us social media: @natalstories, and join our Facebook Community to connect with other parents, birth workers, and advocates.

NATAL is produced by You Had Me at Black and The Woodshaw. Listen to You Had Me at Black wherever you get your podcasts.

Myeshia is a married, 34-year-old cis Black queer woman with a PhD. Two weeks after giving birth to her first child, things take a turn for the worse in a Southern California emergency room.

In this episode we mention: 

* California cuts its maternal mortality rate in half

* CA Senator Holly J. Mitchell's bias training bill

* California as a "global reproductive technology hub"

* Postpartum preeclampsia

* Sisters in Loss podcast

Visit natalstories.com to learn more about NATAL, access our resource hub, and donate to our production fund.

Follow NATAL on social media @natalstories. Join our Facebook Community to connect with other parents, birth workers, and advocates.

NATAL is produced by You Had Me at Black and The Woodshaw. Listen to You Had Me at Black wherever you get your podcasts.