From pre-conception to postpartum, the conversation around birth and Black women’s bodies is often rife with misinformation and fear. Dallas-based doula Eve, of EVE Birth Services, helps women prepare their body, spirit, mind and village for what’s to come.

When were you called to birth work? How did your career begin?

I have been certified as a doula for about four years now, but I've been a doula my whole life. This is what I was purposed for. I think I recognized it at a very young age.

I spent a summer in Boston with my sister at college. I couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. One of her friends was pregnant, and she got put on bed rest. When my sister had to go to work or class, I spent the days with her, preparing meals, massaging her feet and combing her hair.

I've just always been that way. In my adult life, I would have pregnant colleagues that I would just serve and help.

What is the difference between a midwife and a doula?

The doula is your constant support. If you were thinking in layman's terms, the midwife is the OBGYN, and the doula is the nurse.

The doula was the midwife’s assistant, so to speak, the constant nurse. What's going on spiritually? What's happening in the household? How is she eating? Is she exercising? Can the doula connect her with somebody else, such as an herbalist, chiropractor, massage therapist or Reiki healer? You know what the doula is — the plug.

Thinking about women who are planning to have a home birth but don’t know where to begin, who should be on the birth team?

You hire your doula first because your doula is connected to providers. She's going to find out what your birth goals are. They’ll say things like, “Let me introduce you to this OBGYN that I've worked with who is amazing,” or, “Let's go tour these birth centers that I enjoy working with.”

The core of your team needs to be, of course, your doula and your midwife. You need an herbalist, a nutritionist, or somebody that can help you keep yourself healthy with the foods that you're ingesting and supplements that you need to take.

You also need a chiropractor. Specifically, a prenatal chiropractor, also known as  Webster-certified. There's so much going on in the spine and in every single vertebra, along with all of the nerves that are connected to more than just your back and your pain.

It depends on your spiritual beliefs and religious background, but you also need somebody that you can confide in about your fears around your pregnancy. That could be a therapist, psychiatrist or healer of some kind.

What can people expect to pay if they want to have a natural home birth with a full, supportive birth team?

I think it varies in different areas of our country. You can anticipate a home birth midwife to cost between $6,000 to $8,000. Some offer financial support for hardships and aren’t usually looking for all of that money upfront.

There's a varied level of services that you're provided at those rates, and typically you pay a deposit. It depends on the family's insurance and the rules in their state of residence, but help is available.

Should we always have a midwife, even outside the scope of pregnancy and childbirth?

I think women should get a midwife so that they can have their annual well women's exams with them. Don't get me wrong; there is space for the OBGYN. Some women legitimately have high-risk situations where they need an OBGYN. But you should seek an OBGYN that is open to saying, “Let me see what these midwives are doing in the community.”

What resources are available for those who can’t afford to hire a whole birth team?

Go to YouTube. Find yoga and water aerobics. Sometimes you can do drop-in classes at a recreation center that are $10. Go to the community pool. Watch your nutrition. You can't just eat what you have a craving for. You don't get this glorious birth because you pray for it. You get this glorious birth because you work for it.

For those in the family planning stage, what are good tips for preparing to conceive?

There are hormones that your brain produces to tell your body what to do. Everything responds to cortisol in a different way. When you’re in fight, flight, or freeze mode, your womb's response is, “Oh, it's not safe to reproduce.” And so you won't.

Also, pay attention to what you're putting in your body. Stop going to McDonald's every other day. You don't have to become a vegan. But can you purchase meats that are cleaner, or can you clean your meat yourself? Take care of your nutrition. If you are not able to discipline yourself enough to take care of your nutrition, are you ready to reproduce?

How does trauma interplay with pregnancy and childbirth?

It's so interesting how closely related trauma is to the way a woman's labor progresses. If I'm being frank, a lot of us Black women have been molested or raped or experienced some kind of sexual abuse. Abuse can cause a disconnect from your body, womb, vagina and pelvic floor.

Even when home birth is planned, C-sections can still occur. How can women advocate for themselves at the hospital?

Have a plan for everything. Hire a birth team that can transfer to the hospital with you. There are midwives and certified doulas with hospital privileges.

I tell my clients to use BRAINS as an acronym; Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Intuition, do Nothing and ask for Space. If you can't hear your intuition, simply say, “I don't wanna do anything right now. Can I get a little space?” Call your grandmother, call the matriarch in your family and say, “Just pray with me right now.”

Speaking of C-sections, what are some common reasons for them that you generally find to be bullshit?

Failure to progress is the number one bullshit reason for C-sections, along with being past your due date and the risk of stillbirth. You can monitor the baby. Babies don't go from healthy to sick in two seconds.

I think women get told anything sometimes, and their fear is used against them to make choices.

Patient rights are not widely known. What are the basics?

It's your body, it's your baby and you're paying them. Even if you are on government assistance, the government is paying them. They're being paid to provide a service, period. You are in charge. You are in control.

We're going to choose. We're gonna talk in advance. We're not going to just have somebody tell us that we're going to the hospital. We prepare in advance. Watch some videos of C-sections, know how an epidural is administered, and know all of the things that are going to happen.

For those who are not partnered, how should they plan for support during labor and delivery?

Your partner could be your best friend, the girl that knows you most, the one you talk to about all your shit. They could be your mother if she's in line with what you're doing. Sometimes you can't share your birth plan with people. They can talk you out of what you are trying to have faith in.

Your birth partner is a person that says, “You know what? I don't even know if I could do this, but I am so excited for you. I know how strong you are. Let's figure it out.”

Postpartum and Beyond

Do traumatic birth experiences make motherhood and parenthood harder?

The recovery from my c-section was traumatic. It made it hard for me to bond. We had to heal. We did that together. We are still doing that. Taking solo trips together. Having mommy/daughter dates. Sharing with her about my work. And she helped me labor with my son.

What are some postpartum practices that are important?

The birth doula can be a postpartum doula. Or the birth doula works with a postpartum doula, a therapist or somebody that's going to guide you mentally.

Also, yoni steam. Outside of American culture, yoni steams are recommended to begin the day after you birth your baby and throughout the first thirty days to revitalize your womb.

I don’t think the placenta gets talked about enough. Folks are a little squeamish. Where do you stand?

Don't just simply trash your placenta. I strongly recommend doing something with the placenta, some type of closure is essential. There are very strong benefits in encapsulating the placenta, and the nutrients and the hormones can bring balance back to your body.

Can postpartum anxiety and depression be delayed? How long after birth can that last?

You could be in that shock with silent symptoms for years. Then all of a sudden, something triggers you and hits you with postpartum rage.

You've seen the mama in Family Dollar pissed off with her babies. You’re trying to figure out why she is losing her mind on this little bitty baby. She has a hormonal and emotional imbalance that has not been addressed because everybody has been silencing her. This is not about her. Some women don't even get six weeks off after giving birth.

Postpartum emotions and hormones can be tricky to navigate. What should folks prepare for and how?

I think we know how to recognize sadness. Can't get out of bed, unmotivated, just not herself.  I think as Black people, we kind of know how to operate through depression.

I think what we don't recognize is postpartum anxiety. Postpartum OCD, rage, anxiety and depression sometimes go hand in hand. Before you have your baby, try to recognize if some of those things show up already in pregnancy. They just intensify postpartum.

Black women are sort of pummeled by scary facts and statistics surrounding birth. How do we reclaim this narrative?

Birth is not an emergency. Cars were designed for people to drive; they are vehicles. It's what they were designed for. No matter what you believe, your body as a woman is a vehicle that is designed to hold, birth and feed babies.

I would like for our voices to ring louder and our lights to shine together so we can reclaim birth stories. To say, “Black women birth with power.”

Get this feature and the "My body and my baby know exactly what to do" mantra poster in print.

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