This blog was inspired by an article from the website www.xonecole.com about Erykah Badu’s other interest as ‘Doula’ certified in 2011 is defined ‘a non-medical companion who supports a birthing woman by providing continuous care before, during, or after childbirth in the form of information, physical support and emotional support’. She has worked with over forty women starting with herself after birthing three children at home. Her interest was sparked when rushing to the side of a friend who birthed without medication and with a midwife present, never getting sleepy spent over 45 hours to support her delivery. Erykah’s thoughts are that birth is a violet time for the body and that the mother and father need soothing to better ease the child into the world. She is considering her own practice after becoming a midwife.
Being a midwife is a topic that has great history in the African American community. Our birthrates with mother survival more recently are well below normal. Stress and lack of compassion perpetuated within racist institutions contributes to more losses of life of the mother after childbirth and children as well. Recently these factors and studies as well as high profile births of Serena Williams shows it is not about economics. Erykah’s passion for midwifery is apparently something desperately needed in our community. It can help combat and increase a healthy birthing process for both mother and child within our community.
This article also addresses Erykah Badu’s relationships with nursing homes and bringing comedy and laughter in the final hours of someone’s life. She according to the article engages families to come along on the journey when they usually do not because they have not accepted their impending loss. Wow! It is something to have the natural gift of music and song applied to incoming births and end of life passages. This Erykah Badu is totally unknown to me until today and I find her thoroughly fascinating. I did a drawing from a photo taken from her Instagram page taken by photographer Erik Carter. She has a super futuristic magical persona. There may be other names for who she is yet she is my protagonist! Fascinatiing!
Article and drawing by Lillian L. Thompson of Lillianonline.us
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…