In this episode, we’re going to talk with Ms. Divine Bailey-Nicholas, midwife apprentice, doula, certified lactation counselor, and master herbalist about her career in birth work, advocacy and plant medicine in Louisiana. We learn how she utilizes a community model of care that brings resources and education to combat maternal health deserts in the Deep South of the US. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Ms. Divine is proud of her Delta, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia roots. Her cultural foundation breathes through her plant medicine and birth work. Currently, Ms. Divine is a charter member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Louisiana chapter, where her role is historian. She’s a member of the Healthy St. Landry Steering Committee and member of the Community Partners Advisory Sub-Community for the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative. Divine is also the founder and executive director of Community Birth Companion, a nonprofit organization working to decrease infant and maternal mortality rates through childbirth education, breastfeeding support, and community doula support in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, where she resides with her husband and four children. Ms. Divine shares the reality of maternity care in the Southern US, including high rates of morbidity, mortality, and poor infant outcomes, especially among Black women. Ms. Divine shares how she has been inspired by the work of Grand Midwife Shafia Monroe to become a resource to her community and is working to improve birth outcomes and combat maternal health deserts through her perinatal safe space, the Community Birth Companion. Through a community model of care, Ms. Divine is providing education and empowerment to the families she serves. Additionally, Ms. Divine shares insight into her work as a Master Herbalist and teaches courses to support families in pregnancy and postpartum. Content warning: maternal mortality, maternal morbidity, maternal care deserts, health care inequalities, racism Resources Follow Ms. Divine’s work on her social media channels:
Learn about Ms. Divine’s services or sign up for Ms. Divine’s courses on plant medicine on her website here
Learn more about Ms. Divine’s work with Community Birth Companion on their website
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Additional Resources:
- Listen to EBB 152 – Shafia Monroe on Traditional Black Midwifery, Spirituality, and Community Advocacy here
- Learn more about Safia Monroe on her webite and follow her work on Instagram
- Listen to EBB 56 – Listening to Black Midwives: Ms. Charlotte Shilo-Goudeau here
- Listen to EBB 156 – Nicole Deggins of Sista Midwife Productions on Navigating Systemic Racism in Birth Work here
- Read Kelena Reid Maxwell’s Dissertation Birth Behind the Veil: African American Midwives and Mothers in the Rural South here
- Find the Black Birthing Bill of Rights here
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