It is Black Maternal Health Week, April 11-17, 2020, started by Black Mamas Matter Alliance in 2017, to amplify the voices of Black mamas and center the values and traditions of the reproductive and birth justice movements.
How do we continue to amply the voices of black mamas by using technology and arts through podcasting to elevate their voices. Below are 5 Podcasts you need to listen to centering Black Infant and Maternal Health outcomes.
Sisters in Loss Podcast
Sisters in Loss podcast spotlights faith filled black women who share their grief and loss stories and testimonies. Black women experience miscarriage and stillbirth four times more than white women according to the NIH and CDC. Whether you have experienced a miscarriage, infant loss, stillbirth, or infertility, you will learn about resources and strategies to heal, gain clarity, peace, hope, and find an empowering path forward after loss. Join Erica M. McAfee weekly as she interviews Sisters in Loss who have healed from such a painful and traumatic experience by sharing their testimonies to inspire and help others to turn their pain into their purpose.
Obviously, I’m biased as Sisters in Loss is my podcast, but my goal has always been to focus on us by us. Let’s continue to share those stories of loss and infertility that impact our community.
Birth Stories in Color is a podcast for people of color to share their birthing experiences- a space that specifically celebrates, mourns with and supports people of color and their transformation through birth.
Birth Stories in Color also emphasizes the role of storytelling as a way to equip future parents. Listening to real birth stories is one way to discover the expected and unexpected parts of the journey.
We realize that there are birth stories not being heard. Our hope is that all who share and listen find this platform to be a community near and far, and an invaluable resource for navigating their own journey.
Dem Black Mamas answers all the questions yo mama won’t! From sex & dream chasing to adulting & raising free Black children in an unfree world, Crystal Tennille Irby, NeKisha Killings, & Thea Monyee, three #BlackMamaCreatives give you all the #BlackMamaMagic your heart can hold.
NATAL is a podcast docuseries about having a baby while Black in the United States. Throughout the season, we pass the mic to Black parents to tell their stories about pregnancy, birthing, and postpartum care, in their own words. The docuseries also highlights the birthworkers, medical professionals, researchers, and advocates fighting daily for better care for Black birthing parents.
Through first person testimonials, NATAL will empower Black pregnant and birthing parents with information and resources to navigate their parenthood journeys; hold medical systems accountable for the well-being of Black pregnant and birthing parents; create space for Black parents to share the lessons learned within a supportive community; and provide audiences with tools and language to amplify the national conversation about the current state — and future, of Black perinatal care.
Conceived and produced by a team of Black creatives and parents, NATAL is supported by Black Mamas Matter Alliance, USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. The series is produced by You Had Me at Black and The Woodshaw.
NATAL launches April 15, 2020 during Black Maternal Health Week, wherever you listen to podcasts.
Homecoming Podcast; addresses to myths: 1) Hospitals are the safest place to give birth and 2) Black families don’t birth at home. We broadcast how black families birth in love, and choose to birth at home, unassisted or with midwives. We interview parents, birth workers, cloth diaper enthusiasts, and also feature stories of hospital transfer during planned home births and even stories of loss. Join us as we discover black home birth stories in the context of the national crisis in maternal and infant health. In spite of the statistics, we DO have beautiful births. Welcome Home!
