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Birthright
Birthright, hosted by Kimberly Seals Allers, a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth. By seeking out and exploring positive birth stories we can find ideas, solutions and blind spots in our quest to make the birth experience equitable for all Bl...
Birthright, hosted by Kimberly Seals Allers, a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth. By seeking out and exploring positive birth stories we can find ideas, solutions and blind spots in our quest to make the birth
Latest episode
10. Finding Joy for Black Birth Workers: Black Doulas Speak Out
01:17:14||Season 2, Ep. 10Our Guests: Chanel Porchia Albert, Ancient Song Doula Services; Linda Jones, Black Women Birthing Justice; Quatia Osorio, Urban Perinatal Education Center; Dr. Sayida Peprah-Wilson, Frontline DoulasEpisode Description: The truth is, while we wait for the medical system to confront and change its dangerous practices, it’s Black birth workers who are picking up the pieces of the infant and maternal health crisis. Doulas, midwives, and community workers punch the clock day in and day out to ensure we survive and thrive in our birthing experiences, but who’s taking care of them? In this special roundtable discussion, Kimberly sits down with Black women doulas from around the country who are leading the charge for better compensation and representation on a legislative level all while trying to care for themselves and their fellow sisters in birth work. Pull up a seat. You don’t want to miss this much needed conversation about the state of joy in Black birth work. Download Irth, the only app where you can find prenatal, birthing, postpartum, and pediatric reviews of care from Black and brown birthing people. Leave a review today to help inform and protect others! Search reviews to empower yourself. Learn more about having a safe and empowered birth by downloading the free ebook: Birth with Irth: A Mini-Manual to Pregnancy and Childbirth for Black People For Black breastfeeding resources, visit Black Breastfeeding Week, Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association (BMBFA), and Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE).Catch up on episode extras from seasons 1 and 2 on BIRTHRIGHT’S YOUTUBE PAGE!Subscribe to be notified of new episode releases every Wednesday! Love Birthright? Leave a rating and review.Get full episode details and transcripts on www.BirthrightPodcast.com Join the movement for equity in birth and breastfeeding by supporting our Patreon account. As a member, you’ll get access to exclusive bonus content, Birthright swag, and more! Follow Kimberly Seals Allers on Twitter on Instagram: @iamKSealsAllersBirthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.
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9. Good Timing/Bad Timing: Finding Joy In & Beyond the Circumstances
01:07:17||Season 2, Ep. 9Our Guest: Deidra WashingtonOther Guests: Mike WashingtonEpisode Description: Having a plan for pregnancy and parenting comes in handy. But what happens when things move differently than expected and you have to make adjustments? Deidra Washington and her husband Mike know all about scrapping plan A and finding the beauty in plan B. In this episode, the Florida-based mother and father of two girls get real with Kimberly about facing fears, ditching tradition, and loving hard for the next generation. Grab your tissues because you might find yourself getting teary-eyed listening to this couple’s story of teamwork, family, love, and future-building. Catch up on episode extras from seasons 1 and 2 on BIRTHRIGHT’S YOUTUBE PAGE!Subscribe to be notified of new episode releases every Wednesday! Love Birthright? Leave a rating and review.Get full episode details and transcripts on www.BirthrightPodcast.com Join the movement for equity in birth and breastfeeding by supporting our Patreon account. As a member, you’ll get access to exclusive bonus content, Birthright swag, and more! Follow Kimberly Seals Allers on Twitter on Instagram: @iamKSealsAllersBirthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.8. Shifting the Narrative in Black Birth & Beyond: An Interview with Award-Winning Writer and Producer Tonya Lewis Lee
44:42||Season 2, Ep. 8Episode Description: Narratives are powerful. They can influence policy, shift cultural norms, and drive systemic change. What about the narrative in Black maternal health? How do we shift the mainstream narrative in Black birth and breastfeeding away from doom and gloom and negative statistics to centering joy and possibility? What is needed, who is missing and quite frankly, will the powers in Hollywood ever let us own this narrative? In this episode, Kimberly talks with New York Times best-selling author, award-winning writer and producer, Tonya Lewis Lee, whose most recent work, Aftershock, takes a compelling look at the Black maternal mortality crisis. About Guest, Tonya Lewis Lee: Tonya Lewis Lee is an award-winning producer, entrepreneur, and advocate for women’s health. She has produced several TV projects including The Watsons Go To Birmingham[7] which Lewis Lee wrote, The Giver, She's Gotta Have It and MONSTER. Back in 2009, Tonya produced Crisis in the Crib, a documentary about the nation’s unconscionable Black infant mortality crisis, centered in Memphis Tennessee. This year, she co-produced Aftershock, now streaming on Hulu, a powerful documentary which follows the stories of two amazing men whose lives are forever changed by Black maternal deaths. Follow @aftershockdoc on Instagram. For more resources, visit www.BirthrightPodcast.comCatch up on episode extras from season 1 and 2 on BIRTHRIGHT’S YOUTUBE PAGE!Subscribe to be notified for new episode releases every Wednesday! Love Birthright? Leave a rating and review.Get full episode details and transcripts on www.BirthrightPodcast.com Follow Kimberly Seals Allers on Twitter on Instagram: @iamKSealsAllersBirthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.6. Birthright Live! The Restoration Episode
01:03:26||Season 2, Ep. 6Our Guests: Roslyn J. Smith, Safiya Rayford, Raena Granberry Therapist: Saleemah McNeil Episode Description: In this first Restoration episode of season 2, reproductive psychotherapist and CEO of Oshun Family Healing, Saleemah McNeil, and host Kimberly Seals Allers gather at SaksWorks Flagship in NYC to provide Black women who’ve experienced medical-related trauma space to heal. The three Black women who joined the conversation virtually include a woman who received racist comments from an OB/GYN. Another who was neglected by her midwife, which resulted in a full-term stillbirth. And a third who had her concerns ignored and lost her baby after a premature delivery. For more resources, visit www.BirthrightPodcast.comCatch up on episode extras from season 1 and 2 on BIRTHRIGHT’S YOUTUBE PAGE!Subscribe to be notified for new episode releases every Wednesday! Love Birthright? Leave a rating and review.Get full episode details and transcripts on www.BirthrightPodcast.comFollow Kimberly Seals Allers on Twitter on Instagram: @iamKSealsAllersBirthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.5. Birthing While Black And HIV-Positive
01:09:11||Season 2, Ep. 5Our Birthing Person: Teddy Atim, Mary Harper HollyOther Guests: Helen ZimbaEpisode Description: This week, we’re examining the stigma against pregnant and birthing people living with HIV and centering the challenges and realities of healthy, joyful births even with a diagnosis. Host Kimberly Seals Allers follows the journeys of two HIV-positive mothers—Teddy, a mother of three living in rural Uganda, and Mary, a mother of one based in Fort Worth, Texas. Find out how both mamas overcame miseducation and judgment in their communities surrounding their HIV status and gave birth to HIV-negative children.Resources/ReferencesTeddy Atim is a mother of three living in Banda, a rural fishing village in the East African country of Uganda. Teddy was diagnosed with HIV while pregnant with her first child. She’s now a mother mentor at mothers2mothers. Mary Harper-Holly, 47, is a divorced mother of one living in Fort Worth, Texas. After giving birth while living with HIV, Mary serves her community as the Founding Director and CEO of Pay It 4-ward Projects, a community-based non-profit organization supporting the unhoused and indigent communities of Dallas and Tarrant Counties. Helen Zimba serves as the HIV Programs Manager at The Afiya Center. She’s also a Full Spectrum Doula at Southern Roots Doula Services, where she supports pregnant and birthing people who are living with HIV and their families. For more resources, visit www.BirthrightPodcast.com Catch up on episode extras from season 1 and 2 on BIRTHRIGHT’S YOUTUBE PAGE!Subscribe to be notified for new episode releases every Wednesday! Love Birthright? Leave a rating and review.Get full episode details and transcripts on www.BirthrightPodcast.com Follow Kimberly Seals Allers on Twitter on Instagram: @iamKSealsAllersBirthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.4. Single Mother By Choice with a Donor: Leslie’s Birth Story
01:17:50||Season 2, Ep. 4Our Birthing Person: Leslie FicklingOther Guests: Chanel Stryker-Boykin, Doula; Paul Ryan, CEO of Just A Baby; “Dave,” anonymous donorEpisode Description: Society puts a stigma on Black single mothers, stereotyping and devaluing them. But what happens when you become a single mother by choice and choose sperm donation as your pathway to parenthood? This week’s guest, Leslie, used an app, a cup and a Black male donor she met in person to get the baby she so wanted. In this insightful conversation, Leslie takes host Kimberly Seals Allers on a lesser-told journey of reaching Black motherhood in a less traditional way, but still ultimately finding her joy. For Resources/References, visit www.BirthrightPodcast.comCatch up on episode extras from season 1 and 2 on BIRTHRIGHT’S YOUTUBE PAGE!Subscribe to be notified for new episode releases every Wednesday! Love Birthright? Leave a rating and review. Get full episode details and transcripts on www.BirthrightPodcast.comFollow Kimberly Seals Allers on Twitter on Instagram: @iamKSealsAllersBirthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.What Is Our Birthright?
11:59||Season 2What is our birthright? This is the question that host, Kimberly Seals Allers, asks every guest at the conclusion of every episode. And the answers have varied from inspirational, tear jerking, compelling and raw. Enjoy this compilation of our team's favorite answers to, What is our birthright? Whatever it is, we're reclaiming it one story at a time. Resources/ReferencesLearn more about having a safe and empowered birth by downloading the free ebook: Birth with Irth: A Mini-Manual to Pregnancy and Childbirth for Black PeopleGet full episode details and transcripts (posted by midday) on www.BirthrightPodcast.com New episodes are released every other Wednesday!Subscribe now! Follow Kimberly Seals Allers on Twitter on Instagram: @iamKSealsAllers Birthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation.