EBB 260 - Midwifery, Community Birth Work, and Plant Medicine in Louisiana with Ms. Divine Bailey-Nicholas, the Founder of Divine Birth Wisdom

Evidence Based Birth®

Rebecca Dekker

Pregnancy, Health & Fitness, Childbirth, Parenting, Birth, Medicine, Kids & Family, Doula, Obstetrician, Midwife

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 here

Follow the Community Birth Compnaion on social media:

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

Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!!

For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com.

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Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here
Find an EBB Instructor here
Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone on today's podcast we're going to talk with Miss Devine Bailey Nicholas
0:05.0	Midwife Apprentice Dula certified lactation counselor and master herbalist about her
0:10.0	career in birth work advocacy and plant medicine in Louisiana.
0:14.0	Welcome to the Evidence-based Birth Podcast. My name is Rebecca Decker and I'm a nurse
0:22.1	with my PhD and the founder of Evidence
0:24.8	Space Birth. Join me each week as we work together to get evidence-based
0:29.2	information into the hands of families and professionals around the world.
0:34.0	As a reminder this information is not medical advice.
0:37.0	See EBBirth.com slash disclaimer for more details.
0:42.0	Hi everyone, my name is Rebecca Decker,
0:45.0	pronouns she her, and I will be your host for today's episode.
0:48.0	Before we get started with today's episode,
0:50.0	if there are any content or trigger warnings,
0:52.0	they will be detailed in the show
0:53.7	notes for this episode.
0:55.7	And now I'd like to introduce our honored guest.
0:58.6	Today I'm so excited to welcome Miss Devine Bailey Nicholas, pronouns she her.
1:03.0	Miss Divine is a midwife apprentice, certified dula,
1:06.0	certified lactation counselor, and a master herbalist in the southern tradition
1:10.0	and founder of Divine Birth Wisdom.
1:13.0	Originally from Chicago, Illinois,
1:15.0	Ms. Devine is proud of her Delta, Mississippi,
	...

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