Homecoming Podcast
At Homecoming, we address two 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 homebirth 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.
Episodes
Our co-host Chae Pounds just had a baby this March 2021! Chae and her husband Mensa tell us the story of Masara Mensah who was born at home. Chae is a mother of 4 and an apprentice midwife in New Orleans who also works with Birthmark Doula Collective. Mensa is a father, recording artist, school teacher, and an advocate of homebirth. Their story addresses iron-deficiency anemia in pregnancy, planning an unassisted birth also known a...
Isis and Chae interview Talise and her husband Arsalaan (formerly known as Deron). All 6 of their children were born at home including their surprise breech twins! Talise Xavier, of Atlanta, Georgia, is a wife, mother of six, author, and homemaker. Talise uses her birth experiences and expertise to help empower other women as a Natural pregnancy, Breastfeeding, and Postpartum care advocate. Her missi...
TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of miscarriage, abortion, D&C and blood loss.
This episode features Ellenie Cruz. Ellenie’s homebirth story is special because it centers her miscarriage which she frames not as a pregnancy loss but rather a gain. Through her experience, Ellenie saw the impact and importance of community and of birth work. She also recognizes that birthing people who experience miscarriage st...
Isis and Chae interview Dr. Dana-Ain Davis who discusses her book Reproductive Injustice, as well as how medicalized childbirth is an extension of slavery, how racism is a risk factor for all Black birthing people, and why we need more radical birth workers.
In this Season 3 premiere episode, Isis and Chae interview Nubia Martin a Black midwife based in Yonkers, NY. Nubia is the proud mother of 5 -- two daughters and three sons. Her first 2 babies were born in the hospital. And her last 3 were born at home with midwives. After seeing a need in her community, Nubia has actively worked to fill that need by providing necessary childbirth education, lactatio...
In this season finale episode, Isis and Chae interview Shayla Brown, community doula, childbirth educator and founder of Genesis Birthing and Living. Chae calls Shayla a "pioneer woman" because she broke new ground in mothering in her family. She was the first in her family to have a home birth, to breastfeed, and to embrace natural, unmedicated childbirth as a preference and strategy for survival. S...
"Birth is the Revolution," y'all! This week Isis and Chae interview Sista Midwife, Nicole Deggins, CNM, who is one of the leading birth advocacy experts in the US. Nicole, a NOLA native, is a sought-after trainer, public speaker, and community educator who works to eliminate perinatal disparities and bring light to the broken medical-obstetrical model of birth. Nicole knows hospital birth extensively and was a labor and delivery nu...
Show dedication: In Loving Memory of Tayo's father--DeShon Reddick, Sr. “Demo,” The King of B Boy Soul.
Isis and Chae open this episode discussing self-care and its importance in pregnancy and postpartum healing. Chae also mentions her love for moxibustion. We continue the self-care conversation with Tayo on Patreon with our monthly subscribers.
Isis and Chae interview Jeanine Valrie Logan, MPH, CLS. Jeanine is a Chicago-based advanced practice midwife, certified lactation education specialist, youth ally, homebirth mama, ecofeminist, podcaster, and homeschooler. In this episode, Jeanine discusses her entry into birth work in 2008. We also talk about the status of homebirth midwifery in Illinois and how there are still no Black certified professional midwives in Illinois.
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After experiencing emotional ups and downs during pregnancy, including a false diagnosis, Chae had a beautiful home birth! Chae decided to birth unassisted although she did have the support of her birth team including her husband Mensa. In Season 1, Chae shared her breech birth story which started as a planned home birth but resulted in a hospital transfer. In this episode, Chae shares the power of giving birth a second time in the...
Alabama-based homesteading business owners, wellness practitioners, and bee keepers, Stacey and Tommy Fluker describe their unassisted birth in Alabama. After being supported by midwives for their first two home births, Stacey and Tommy felt comfortable and empowered to birth without any birthworkers or medical providers present for the birth of their third child.
For more information about Stacey and Tommy and Healing Exchange AL...
Stacey and Tommy Fluker are parents of three children and the owners and operators of Healing Exchange AL. Stacey and Tommy are healers, thai yoga massage practitioners, bee keepers, and lovers of nature and music. Stacey is also a doula who witnessed her mother birth birth at home and was inspired to birth her children at home. Her first two births were assisted by underground or "rebel midwives." Her third birth was unassisted an...
Another cloth diaper episode, ayyyee!! We interview Kristin Mejia-Greene a birth and postpartum doula, placenta encapsulation specialist, and Certified Lactation Counselor. Kristin serves the greater Nashville, Tennessee are and is the owner of exBreast Yourself Festival Pumping Suites. She provides luxury pumping suites for festivals and trade shows in the mid-South. Kristin is also the founder of Homeland Heart & Birth Wellness C...
In part II of this episode, Nuola, mother of 3, answers the question, "Why did you have a home birth?!" despite everything she endured with her first two pregnancies including D&C and stillbirth.
For more info about Nuola visit www.nuolaakinde.com
*content warning: pregnancy loss, D&C, stillbirth*
Nuola shares her first experiences with pregnancy and birth. She first became pregnant as a college student. Her doctor ultimately convinced her to terminate a potentially difficult but wanted pregnancy. After experiencing a coerced D&C and later a stillbirth, Nuola went on to have two health children born in the hospital--first with an OB then a nurse midwife. When Nuola got pregn...
Chae interviews Isis who discusses what it was like to find a midwife in Illinois where non-nurse midwives still cannot legally attend home births. Isis describes her at-home water birth as healing and beautiful despite having postpartum complications.
In this Season 1 finale episode, we interview Lou-Ann and Michael. Lou-Ann is a wife, mom of 2, and Graphic Design Consultant from Northern Virginia. Lou-Ann first gave birth to her daughter, Charlotte, in the hospital. After experiencing a "failed epidural," Lou-Ann decided to have a midwife-assisted home birth when she became pregnant with her son Malcolm. Lou-Ann had an empowered, unmedicated home birth that was beautiful beyond...
Detroit homebirth midwife, Cynthia Jackson, describes a typical prenatal appointment, why Black women should consider home birth, and a memorable surprise breech birth! Cynthia is a professional birth worker and founder of Sacred Rose Birthing Services. She provides homebirth midwifery care and hospital doula support for Detroit families (Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, and Washtenaw counties).
Brittany Fluitt, registered nurse and community doula, shares the birth of her son Kamalu who was born at home in New Orleans with the support of her doula, midwife, and husband Ifeanyi. Brittany shares why it's important to prepare your body and spirit for birth even before getting pregnant.
Check out the documentaries Why Not Home? The Surprising Birth Choices of Doctors and Nurses and The Business of Being Born.
Isis and Chae continue their conversation with Alysia who is a mom of two boys. She always had an interest in cloth menstrual pads AKA mama cloth but made the switch when she began cloth diapering her son Apollo. Alysia was diagnosed with endometriosis and started mama cloth because she had really heavy, painful cycles. She was actually scheduled to have her ovaries removed but then she discovered mama cloth. Once she started using...
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