EPISODE 6
Birthright Live!
The Restoration Episode
listen up
Season 2, Episode 6: Birthright Live! The Restoration Episode
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 hold space for Black women who’ve experienced medical-related trauma. They are joined by three Black women looking for healing, including 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.
Resources/References
- The Oshun Family Center—founded in Philadelphia by reproductive psychotherapist Saleemah McNeil, CLC, MS, MFT—provides racially concordant care to Black community members impacted by postpartum mood changes, birth, and racial trauma.
- The Shades of Blue Project is a Houston-based non-profit organization focused on improving maternal mental health outcomes for Black and brown birthing people by providing support groups for people experiencing pregnancy or postpartum, single moms, teen moms, those who experienced infant loss, LBGTQ+ folks, and more.
- Postpartum Wellness offers pregnancy and postpartum counseling support to women in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Florida with an emphasis on commitment to social justice and anti-racism.
- Spirited By Truth provides mental health services to women in California with the goal of promoting healthy life balance in motherhood, work and life.
- Learn more about how maternal mental health care for Black birthing people can be improved by checking out this study, “Pathways To Equitable and Antiracist Maternal Mental Health Care: Insights From Black Women Stakeholders.”
- The Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance released a fact sheet detailing the rates at which Black women and birthing people experience maternal mental health conditions, such as postpartum depression and anxiety, and factors contributing to the illnesses, which include systemic racism and adverse childhood experiences.
- Interested in having a doula and/or midwife for your pregnancy, birth or post-partum period? Here are resources for finding Black midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, and other perinatal specialists of color: Sista Midwife Directory, The Bridge, and National Black Doulas Association.
- 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!
- 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 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: @iamKSealsAllers
- Birthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund.
About
Raena Granberry is a Maternal Health Equity Consultant and Sr. Manager of Maternal and Infant Health at California Black Women’s Health Project. She’s an Inglewood native and Spelman College graduate who began in politics as a community engagement specialist with the California Democratic Party and elected officials including Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
Saleemah McNeil, CLC, MS, MFT is the CEO of Oshun Family Center, a Reproductive Psychotherapist, Certified Lactation Consultant, professionally trained Birth Doula, and a traumatic birth survivor. Saleemah has dedicated her work to helping families of color heal from traumatic birth experiences and transition into parenthood.
Safiya Rayford is a stay at home mom of two elementary aged children based in Sacramento, California and has been married to her college sweetheart for ten years. When she’s not homeschooling, she can be found either in the garage tinkering with her electric cargo bike or gardening in her family’s urban farm in Northern California.
Roslyn J. Smith is a New York City based financial services executive who has specialized in digital client experience at Fortune 500 companies. She serves on the board of Dress for Success Northern NJ, an organization dedicated to economic empowerment of women by providing the development tools to thrive in work and life.
