Dr. Doula (Andrea Little Mason, Ed.D.) is an educator, scholar, researcher, speaker, and legacy builder who travels internationally to gain a greater understanding of the connectedness of women of African descent on the Continent and in the Diaspora. She encourages women to reach back to take hold of the best that previous generations have to teach, so they can be equipped to move forward and toward their full potentials. She shows them how to empower themselves by reclaiming and embracing indigenous knowledge and practices that have been lost, stolen, surrendered, abandoned and forgotten. "SANKOFA" teaches us: "it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot"... even if what you have forgotten is something as magnificent as BIRTH.
Andrea Little Mason, Ed.D., affectionately known as "Dr. Doula", is an educator, scholar, researcher, advocate, and legacy builder who uses her expertise to promote resourcefulness in African American families during the childbearing year. As an influencer and thought leader in birth culture, she encourages women of African descent to “Reclaim Their Birth Rites” by embracing the best of what previous generations have to offer.
Dr. Doula uses opportunities for international travel and speaking to expand her global knowledge of birth practices to share those insights with others. She is in collaboration with the Centre of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and, in 2019, was a keynote speaker at the first Traditional Birth Attendants Conference held in South Africa.
Along with supporting women during the childbearing year, Dr. Doula focuses on providing educational resources through her Signature Course "10 THINGS" on the fundamentals of birth and postpartum, Sankofa Birth Ambassador Mentoring, and the "Sankofa Ways" Intensive Workshop where she teaches how to SANKOFA and return to African traditions of caring for pregnant and postpartum women. She has initiated the “Africa to the Diaspora” Birth and Postpartum Project that involves interviews with Continental African women sharing traditions with Diasporic African women. These interviews are shared through membership in the Daughters of the African Diaspora Alliance. Additionally, Dr. Doula interviews Black women around the world to record the stories of what she calls the “Black Birth Renaissance” through the Birth HERstory Blog.
After more than 25 years of marriage to her college sweetheart, Eugene, she counts her greatest accomplishments to be her four sons: Eugene IV (24), Imani (22), Andreu (17) and Omari (15).
Dr. Doula uses opportunities for international travel and speaking to expand her global knowledge of birth practices to share those insights with others. She is in collaboration with the Centre of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and, in 2019, was a keynote speaker at the first Traditional Birth Attendants Conference held in South Africa.
Along with supporting women during the childbearing year, Dr. Doula focuses on providing educational resources through her Signature Course "10 THINGS" on the fundamentals of birth and postpartum, Sankofa Birth Ambassador Mentoring, and the "Sankofa Ways" Intensive Workshop where she teaches how to SANKOFA and return to African traditions of caring for pregnant and postpartum women. She has initiated the “Africa to the Diaspora” Birth and Postpartum Project that involves interviews with Continental African women sharing traditions with Diasporic African women. These interviews are shared through membership in the Daughters of the African Diaspora Alliance. Additionally, Dr. Doula interviews Black women around the world to record the stories of what she calls the “Black Birth Renaissance” through the Birth HERstory Blog.
After more than 25 years of marriage to her college sweetheart, Eugene, she counts her greatest accomplishments to be her four sons: Eugene IV (24), Imani (22), Andreu (17) and Omari (15).
