Zinzile Seepie, the Zulu Doula, shares her insights and experiences with birth in in South Africa

"I don't know if I would say having an unassisted birth was a decision. The more I learned about birth and the more I reflected on my first birth the more I realized that, even though it was this amazing experience, I was not free. It was a gorgeous birth, but the more I learned about birth and the more I grew in the birth world, the more I remembered my own experience as a child in rural KZN (KwaZulu-Natal), the brighter the discrepancies were in what I understood in terms of how free I was in that birth."

Zinzile and her two sons, Jedi and Langa

Birth in South Africa's First and Second Economies ​I had seen women birth unassisted growing up, so I knew that it could be done. It's very different though, especially in the second economy. Let me give you some background. In South Africa, we've got two very distinct economies. There is the first economy which is rich people or people with money and then there is your new second economy which is varying levels of poverty. With my work with Amnesty International and with Human Rights in Childbirth, I have had the opportunity to hear of stories, particularly in the second economy, of really poor women giving birth by themselves on sidewalks or on rural roads because there’s no transportation to take women to hospitals or birth center facilities. In 2014, Amnesty International released a paper speaking to the degree of poverty within rural regions in South Africa where women would have to put three to six months salary away in preparation for their birth. And I'm not even talking about the people or the medical team that would assist them. That is just transportation to access a hospital. When we speak about unassisted birth in South Africa it's not a glamorous thing. It's something that happens to women who are in really horrible situations. It's only in the first economy where women have the power and the consciousness to make those decisions for themselves. The greater majority of women are just trying to access any type of medical assistance. That is the aim: Can I just get some help? Can someone assist me. That was something I also had to take into my consideration. Having an unassisted birth wasn't a decision I made lightly because I did understand that not all women die, but in cases where there is abject poverty there are a number of other factors that are in play. Unassisted birth doesn't always end well, so I had to be conscious of that. Also being a doula and having seen women birth, I think sometimes in the birth world we oversimplify birth. It's not something you can just do by yourself at home one day, unless you are inspired by something bigger than yourself. Those are the things I took into my confidence and I took into serious consideration. I live in a country where I'm so fortunate that this is a choice that I could make for myself.

#BirthHERstory - I am so excited to share this video of Mama Roberta Ingram. As I listened to her share about her own self-discovery and how she and the sisters she surrounded herself with reconnected to our birth traditions, I am inspired to believe that it is possible for Black women to do that again in their own circles. I am convinced that the ability to heal ourselves and our families is within our power, as it always has been.  I believe this is especially true because we have so many resources available through technology and are able to communicate with one another as never before. Mama Roberta did not continue in birth work, however, she gave a bit of advice at the end to those that may be considering birth work. It reminded me of a comment I made recently on a Facebook post: "All I can think about are our ancestral mothers... They have so much expectation for us. They want to us to restore. They want us to 're-member' who we are and walk confidently. They want us to manifest our gifts and talents in ways they could not. Through our success in our passions, callings and chosen career paths in birth, we vindicate them and bestow upon them the honor they were denied. Let’s be bold as we move forward in this work." Mama Roberta represents the type of women I hope will rise up to reclaim the birth rites of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

Do you have a birth tradition or story you would like to share from an elder?
​#BirthHERstory on DrDoula.com