Posts tagged Birth Representation
46 | A Healing Unmedicated Hospital Birth - Tonya Rapley
46 | A Healing Unmedicated Hospital Birth - Tonya Rapley

An essential intention of Tonya's life is the ability to live freely. This intention is how she prepared for her birth. Knowing she wanted her husband to have an active role in her support. They utilized the Bradley Birth method of childbirth education, as it as a focus on an unmedicated approach using partners as birthing coaches. Having financial freedom allowed her to build a birth team that matched her and her husband's vision. Tonya not only had a black OBGYN but also supported in care from her black midwife. Combining both traditional medical practices with the traditional midwifery care, provided her with the security that nothing be left unturned.

This combination of care would turn out to be exactly the right setup. When Tonya began labor, her OBGYN informed her that he was in the bay area celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with his family. Meaning there was a strong possibility he would not be present for her birth. Even with his absence, Tonya, her husband, and midwife were able to walk into the hospital with confidence. Especially since the hospital and nurses were familiar with her midwife. Not only familiar with her presence, but in how she approached her interactions to ensure her families were thoroughly cared for. Tonya attributes her midwife's active role in assisting her in having a successful hospital birth. For her, that teamwork allowed "My birth team to advocate for me the way I would if I wasn't in such a vulnerable space." As black-birthing people, we are continually receiving negative messages about our births and their outcomes, especially when we choose to birth in hospitals. Tonya's birth story is a testament that we can have happy, healthy, and healing births.

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Hospital Birth, Postpartum, Community HighlightsLaurel GourrierBlack Midwives, Birth Representation, Black Families Matter, Financial Freedom, Black Maternal HealthComment
40 | Paving a New Way: Against the Grain - Codie Elaine Oliver
40 | Paving a New Way: Against the Grain - Codie Elaine Oliver

Codie describes her pregnancies and births as a full-circle experience. With their first child Codie and Tommy had planned to birth in a birth center, a turn of events would have them shifting to have a home birth, supported by midwife Heather Schwartz and student midwife Kim Durdin. As we know, birth plans change, and Codie went from a homebirth to a transfer to a hospital with an epidural and a c-section.

While she was ecstatic to have a healthy baby and be a mother, a thought that did linger in the back of her mind was that those who said this would be her story were right. When she found out, she was pregnant the second time, and with twins, there was a mix of excitement but also fear that she wouldn't be able to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). From the beginning, she was intentional about her support and ultimately built an empowering birth team, with care providers who supported her in trusting and believing herself to do that.

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Birth Center, Cesarean Birth, Home Birth, Hospital Birth, Twins, VBAC, Community HighlightsLaurel GourrierBlack Midwives, Black Birth Matters, Birth Representation, Black Families Matter, Black Love, VBAC TwinsComment
38 & 39 | Reimagining the Village - Tayo Mbande & Toni Taylor
38 & 39 | Reimagining the Village - Tayo Mbande & Toni Taylor

The saying goes, "it takes a village to raise a child" - hearing Tayo and her mother share Tayo's birth experience not only affirms this but reveals it takes a village to birth a mother.

Tayo knew for her third pregnancy and birth; she was going to need to facilitate her experience with intense intention. From her previous births, birthing at a hospital was not an option, so with the support of her mother and husband, she prepared to have a family homebirth, absent of a midwife. Yet, this pregnancy was opposite from her others, and there was a point where she thought her homebirth wouldn't come to fruition. Tayo relied heavily on her mother for support throughout her earlier births. This time around, her mother pushed for Tayo and her husband to create a stronger bond they could depend on and believe in each other as a support unit.

Reimagining her village, she let herself to be fully loved and cared for, throughout the pregnancy, her birth, and at the beginning of her postpartum and still currently. Everyone showing up for her makes her show up for herself.

Tayo and Toni have a beautiful bond; they have now created a space to support and uplift the families in their community in that same sacred love. The Chicago Birth Collective is the village, a collective of birth workers, healers, and wellness practitioners serving and healing Black families across Chicago.

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Home Birth, Community Highlights, Postpartum, UnassistedLaurel GourrierDoula of Color, Generational Cycles, Village Support, Black Birth Matters, Birth Representation, Community Support, HealingComment
25 | The Melanated Birth - Chinelle Rojas
25 | The Melanated Birth - Chinelle Rojas

Chinelle Rojas, a birth photographer/videographer, explained that her job is not about the crotch shot. Instead, the focus is on documenting the little moments that her clients may not remember after the birth of their child.

She knew from the birth of her three children that she wanted something to look back at. To be able to reflect on her birth experiences and also be able to share with her children. Chinelle loved photography and birth. Taking that into consideration, she wanted to be able to offer other families the opportunity to commemorate their birth experiences. She shot her first birth in 2011, and from there the rest is history.

Chinelle created Melanated Birth to bring awareness to women of color of the options available to them through the imagery of birth. Using it not only as a medium for families to document their birth stories but also as a way for future birth photographers of color and allies to learn about the importance of documenting birth in this way.

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Community Highlights, Hospital BirthLaurel GourrierBirth Photography, Birth Videography, Birth Imagery, Birth RepresentationComment