Offering Bitter Truths about Black Birth & Postpartum Culture, Because "All Medicine Ain't Sweet"

"Our mores and cultural norms are not just nice or cute. Our ancestral science and indigenous customs were encoded with life saving science, rituals and information... Our ancestors' wisdom and science, whether any European ever confirmed it or not, [it] is real... it existed for a reason." ~ Yael B. Yisrael

​"SEA MOSS! I forgot to mention sea moss!"

That was the first thing Yael B. Yisrael said after we stopped our recording, along with saying something about getting her "Caribbean card" revoked if she didn't mention it. HA! You can reach out to her if you would like to know more of what she would have said about it, but it will only be a snippet of other jewels you will find she is able share about traditional remedies, and birth and postpartum based on her Caribbean roots in Grenada. 

​Yael and I have been connected for a few years in birth culture, however, we share even more camaraderie now as we share a common cause and call around helping to restore the birth and postpartum practices of Black people throughout the Diaspora. 

Yael is very dear to my heart as she was one of those who was present when I made a decision to dive fully into focusing on Black women. I am grateful to remain connected to her through the lineage and legacy of nurturing and caring for Black women, especially during the childbearing years.

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One of the things I appreciate most about Yael is that she is not only committed to teaching Black women, but she is truly following the traditions of our ancestors by living out the practices and teaching her daughter. Her legacy extends to her own home first. Check out that baby doll in the leg warmer uterus. I LOVE how she teaches her young'un about BIRTH!

Topics discussed in this conversation:

• Claiming the role of "Herbal and Traditional Healer"
• Relaying first hand accounts of Scopolamine use
• Remembering the stories of our mothers
• "All medicine ain't sweet..."
• Becoming dependent on a system that doesn't have our best interest in mind
• Dealing with the perception that Black culture doesn't exist
• Pulling elder wisdom toward us
• Work hard... No drama... Have fun...
• The lineage and legacy of Shiphrah and Puah
• Looking for the traditions, cultures and customs
• The 'privilege' of having space to heal
• Not having the "fear" of birth
• "...no maternal mortality..." How?
• Breaking the "spell" and thoughts that your culture is evil
• When your DNA starts talking and gets triggered through trauma
• Sharing collective memory like an heirloom
• Black women... "SHE is ME"
• Look for the inspiration you identify with
• Dealing with pre-existing challenges of Black women
• Living in a society that doesn't honor ritual
• Honoring kinship throughout the African Diaspora
• Self-care of our wombs as a part of everyday life

Yael offers these words of gratitude:

• Shiphrah & Puah, the Hebrew midwives who saved the entire nation of Yisrael by protecting the Hebrew baby boys.
  
• My mother, Phyllis Gomes, who is a retired Labor & Delivery nurse.
  
• My "Anty" Vere Cudjoe, of blessed memory, who passed down postpartum healing rituals to me, at the ripe age of 90 years old.
  
• ​My friend Yehosheba Bat Yisrael, who shared her knowledge of womanly arts & African postpartum womb steaming with me.
  
• Elder midwife Emelda Cox, a Grenadian midwifery icon, who taught me that the highest form of medicine is the art of educating and caring.

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