Candace Smith is the wife of a marine, the mother of four children, and a birthworker who just experienced the homebirth she desired with a Black midwife. I was impressed by her experience because she managed the arrangements for her homebirth even while dealing with her husband receiving orders to move to a new state where she felt less comfortable with her options for homebirth.

Candace is truly special to me and, from our first encounter, personally left an impression on me and the work that I do. (We talk about that a bit in our conversation.) Right now, she is focusing on being a mother to her beautiful children and not actively involved in birthwork. Still, I appreciate her willingness to share portions of her homebirth story and process as a new mom to her new baby. I believe that she offers a lot of food for thought about the ways that Black women can connect with each other to improve our birth experiences.

Topics discussed:

• Natural family support systems
• Becoming what you wish you had
• Family caring for new moms
• The need to create a support system
• Planning a homebirth and moving as a military mom
• Laboring at home vs the hospital
• Asking questions and makng sure you understand
• Looking after the postpartum mom
• Midwifery care at home
• Arranging to take homebirth baby to the pediatrician for the first time
• Finding the best doctor for baby
• Focusing on the care of the new mother
• ​Staying in the house
• Doing "nothing" as a new mother
• Having a "baby moon"
• "A new mother after every birth"
• Knowing your role with a new mother
• Finding your people and culture during postpartum
• Setting up your "dream team" for homebirth
• Being mindful of what you need
• Guarding your mental health as a new mom
• Letting people know what you need
• Gleaning from the elders and our birthing traditions

Connect with Candace:

Facebook: Candace Smith Doula
Instagram: @Can_Doula
​FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/chameleondoulaco/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chameleondoulaco/

I am constantly researching something. This week has begun with me reading more about the Grand (granny) midwives of the south... Those who "waited on women" because it was something that they felt God had called them to and taught them how to do as they listened and learned from older women who "caught babies." Women who believed that birth was a spiritual thing as much as it was a physiological thing. Speaking with Aisha Ralph, I knew I was speaking to one who was following a similar path. 

My conversation with Aisha was so rich that by the end I was FULL. Aisha is from Antigua and, as a daughter of the African Diaspora, is mindful of how her actions will impact future generations. There were several instances while I listened to her speak that I knew that she was speaking from beyond herself on behalf of our ancestral mothers, sharing truths that span beyond her years, that are necessary to sustain our families. We need midwives in our generation who can hear and recognize their role in preserving our birth traditions and our lives and African descended people. Aisha is also planning a journey with midwives in Uganda to enrich her personal midwifery journey, which you can support. 

I am excited to share Aisha with you. She has a beautiful spirit I am sure you will appreciate.

​Topics discussed:
​

• Being attracted to birth at a young age
• Considering birth options in Antigua
• Dealing with the medicalization of birth
• Protecting ‘your’ spirit in birth environments
• ​Being holistic vs being compartmentalized
• How you feel about your "divine creative energy"
• Creating legacy as an "ancestral mother"
• Reconsidering a system that is not serving you
• Dealing with cognitive dissonance
• Ensuring our personal autonomy
• Speaking with the elders
• How a generation forgets ritual and tradition
• Allowing ourselves to be empowered to RE-MEMBER
• “Ancestral connections cannot be broken”
• “Doulas” in indigenous cultures
• Universal birth and postpartum practices 
• Answering “the call” of your ancestors
• Embodying our full experiences in birth work
• Ceremonies vs family practices (rituals)
• Birth memories… “a woman never forgets”
• Feeling called to birth? JUST DO IT!

Aisha Tewerat Akua offers this gratitude:

​"To the ones in my ancestral lineage from the beginning of time to present, whose names are not known to me, who were themselves guardians of birth, and in whose footsteps I trod...

To the ones whose memory and legacy live on in the title "Granny Midwife"...
​
To my elders in birthwork, especially Jennie Joseph, Makeda Kamara, Debbie Allen, Racha Lawler, and Toni Hill, who have been a huge inspiration and have guided me with their words (most times without even knowing it)...

To my sister midwives, especially Janell, Efe and Tiffany, who have never failed in giving me encouragement and who have been consistent examples of perseverance and strength...
​
And to my biggest supporters and cheerleaders, my mother Daphne, my husband Nekia and my best friend Marcella"

Here are some ways you can connect with Aisha to learn more about what she is doing:

Support Aisha's journey with midwives in Uganda

Email: nurturingbirth4u@gmail.com
FB Personal: Aisha Taweret Akua
FB Page: Birth Matters

I was first interested in interviewing Tayo Mbande to talk about her recent home birth, but I could not ignore the work I have seen her doing through Chicago Birthworks Collective (CBC), an organization she co-founded with her mother, Toni. Most recently, CBC hosted the 1st Annual Black Breastfeeding Cookout, the very first gathering of its kind and it was well received among Black families. Before that, members participated in the 90th Annual Bud Biliken Parade, the largest Black parade in the nation. Black women breastfeeding was promoted, celebrated and showcased to the Black community in Chicago by some of its own daughters. Additionally, Tayo has taken opportunities to speak on various radio platforms as an advocate for Black women in childbirth.

I have so much appreciation for Tayo's youth and also her ability to mobilize other young Black women toward birthwork. More impressive than her work is listening to her speak about her relationship with her mother and how it has been shaped through motherhood. Their relationship triumphs are encouragement for other Black women seeking to heal generational challenges to reclaim sacred birth traditions.

Topics discussed:
​

• Entering birthwork with your mom
• ​Having a “community mom” and 'pimpin’ out your mom???
• Dealing with the realities of birthwork
• Historical context between Black mothers and daughters
• Black and white vaginas vs. womb histories
• Talking to your daughters about “coming out of your vagina”
• The responsibility to “tend to your connections” with your “mothers”
• “Lotus Birth” analogy
• Being aware of the “work” you are supposed to do
• Healing so your daughters don’t have to
• Understanding Black concerns
• Family making the difference in the birth space
• Birth experiences in the hospital
• Deciding to birth at home
• Allowing the community to care for you
• Taking personal responsibility for your birth choices
• Challenges during pregnancy and postpartum
• Gathering your “Birth Village” and learning together
• Having a “Family Birth” and assigning roles to your birth village 
• Black men “tending” to birth
• Experiencing spontaneous labor for the first time with your 3rd child
• “Calling labor forth...”
• Having irregular labor patterns during a home birth
• Actualization and disappointments during homebirth
• Tending to pain and being authentic in childbirth
• Managing “Instagram expectations” of homebirth
• “The Black Girl’s Labor Guide”
• Prioritizing the needs of your children within your work

In this interview, Tayo discusses her unassisted homebirth experience and, for those who appreciate small rays of sunshine like me will also enjoying seeing her little ones toward the end of the interview. Tayo shares these words of graitude:

"My gratitude goes first to my mother, who was my first home and continues to nurture me through my own motherhood and through my journey as a birth worker. My gratitude then goes to all of my grandmothers through who's wombs I've passed! They continue to reveal to me the practices that have and will save our lives and our children's lives. I am thankful to the women of Chicago Birthworks Collective and the Black birthworker community in Chicago for continuously investing in me with their time, and wisdom of Black womanhood, and motherhood. Shafia Monroe for lighting the way of return to traditional Black woman centered care and being present to support in this work. "

​Learn more about the work Brandi is doing and connect with her to take advantage of the opportunities she is making available:

Website: www.ChicagoBirthworks.com
Office: 872-903-3813
Email: Tayo@chicagobirthworks.com
Instagram: @ChicagoBirthworksCo​
FB Page: Chicago Birthworks Collective