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The International Center For Traditional Childbearing hit the road for the first time and brought its African centered Full Circle Doula Training to Washington, DC. Twenty-five women captured and shared the spirit of birthing and are now ready to share the African spirit of midwifery to women and families in the metro area.

The communal spirit of women is the highlight of traditional African midwifery. “I chose to be certified under an African American established Doula program. That is where I’ll be doing most of my work – with women of color,” said Teresa Robinson, an Esalen massage therapist specializing in prenatal/ postpartum, and an AL-ACE trained Doula. “The stigma that Black women don’t get along is a lie. When women of color do get together, everyone is singing the same tune, whether it is a high or low one.”

The Portland based International Center for Traditional Childbearing, Inc. (ICTC) hit the road for the first time and brought its African centered Full Circle Doula Training to this Dis-trict this past weekend. Twenty-five women captured and shared the spirit of birthing and are now ready to share the African spirit of midwifery with women and families in the metro area. “It does make a difference in how a woman has her birthing experience. Using a Doula makes a woman’s birth-ing experience better,” says Shafia M. Monroe, mother of seven and founder of the ICTC and Black Midwives. “We look at why our babies are dying. We’re burying our babies before age one. Our babies are coming out weighing two pounds on a respira-tor with asthma. We have all these issues happening that are affecting our future o-ur children. If they are not healthy they can not be good voters, they can not be good decision makers, and can not take care of the elders.”

The fast pace of the western world is also present in the birthing process. Chinyere Tucker carried her two-week-old home-birthed daughter to the three day training. “The cultural aspect of this training resonated with my soul. Laboring - a big part of birthing - is a long process, even though we live in a microwave society,” Tucker said. Nikki Plaskett, a prenatal yoga practitioner and breastfeeding peer

counselor, added this training to her prenatal repertoire. Plaskett will be relocating to St. Croix, her homeland, next month. “I will take my toolkit with me to create a one stop place for women and children to receive the African based midwifery back home,” she shared. Crystal Johnson, mother of two, said the training was an inspiration for her. “The training is inspiring me to be a better mom for my own kids. I will incorporate the training into my own life.” Kamala Myree, a massage therapist and trained Doula, said the Doula training increased her confidence. “I was apprehensive because I had taken a Eurocentric training course before. I didn’t feel that I could be out in the world after that training. But this training has empowered me to get out into the world and do the work,”Myree said. “Real life issues, mainly mortality rates, nutrition amongst Blacks and the gaps seen when a woman of color goes to the hospital, the prejudices she experiences before she even walks in the door I can shield her from a lot of that.”

Elizabeth Kaufman, a Caucasian and student midwife, enjoyed getting an African perspective on midwifery. She works at the Family Health and Birth Center with a pre-dominantly Black low income community. “I loved all the rituals, the opening songs, [and] birth songs. It feels right to open with a prayer and close with a song. It makes the experience spiritually complete.” Claudia Booker, D.C. representative for ICTC and a sought-after midwife in the metropolitan area had birthed about a third of the women at the training. “For many women this training is the gateway for starting on a life long dream of serving women and being with women in childbirth,” Booker said.

The Black Midwives and Prenatal Providers Directory, self-published by Monroe, is a one stop resource for those seeking Black midwives, Doulas and prenatal professionals. The directory includes essential recipes and powerful words of wisdom for expecting and new parents. The bond between mother and child may be missing today because of the disappearance of African wisdom and traditions that worked for centuries.

The spirit of our African heritage comes alive when women serve each other and the birthing process is a sacred time. The Doula and midwifery profession are key in bringing the family back together.“ICTC is committed to being the voice that reunites our past with our future. Midwives are not just catching the baby. Our midwives are catching the spirit of our community. We are catching the life of the world,” said Monroe.

This story written by Angelique Shofar was published in the Washington Informer