Podcasts Kids & Family Parenting Evidence Based Birth® EBB 260 - Midwifery, Community Birth Work, and Plant Medicine in Louisiana with Ms. Divine Bailey-Nicholas, the Founder of Divine Birth Wisdom

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

Published: March 22, 2023, 7 a.m.

In this episode, we\u2019re 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. \xa0 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\u2019s 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. \xa0 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. \xa0 Content warning: maternal mortality, maternal morbidity, maternal care deserts, health care inequalities, racism\xa0 Resources Follow Ms. Divine\u2019s work on her social media channels:

Learn about Ms. Divine\u2019s services or sign up for Ms. Divine\u2019s courses on plant medicine on her website here

Learn more about Ms. Divine\u2019s work with Community Birth Companion on their website here\xa0 \xa0 Follow the Community Birth Compnaion on social media:\xa0 Additional Resources:
  • Listen to EBB 152 \u2013 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\xa0
  • Listen to EBB 56 \u2013 Listening to Black Midwives: Ms. Charlotte Shilo-Goudeau here
  • Listen to EBB 156 \u2013 Nicole Deggins of Sista Midwife Productions on Navigating Systemic Racism in Birth Work here
  • Read Kelena Reid Maxwell\u2019s \xa0Dissertation\xa0Birth 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\xae, visit\xa0www.ebbirth.com.

Find us on:\xa0

Ready to get involved?\xa0

  • Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options)\xa0here\xa0
  • Find an EBB Instructor\xa0here\xa0
  • Click\xa0here\xa0to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth\xae Childbirth Class.

\xa0