Ushers of Life: The Deep Roots of Black Birth
Brooklyn-based founder and birth educator, Latham Thomas, parses through the storied history of Black birth and reflects on the urgent need for radical self-awareness, ancestral knowledge and silent action.
Brooklyn-based founder and birth educator, Latham Thomas, parses through the storied history of Black birth and reflects on the urgent need for radical self-awareness, ancestral knowledge and silent action.
One summer afternoon in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, the CRWNMAG crew gathered in a light-filled brownstone brimming with Black art, history and the buzz of breaking news. Our photoshoot and interview with Latham Thomas, founder of the Mama Glow Foundation and doula network, serendipitously coincided with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In that very Black, very protected space, the weight of the news cycle disintegrated into thin air. Instead of grim fear, hope filled the room, reinforced by the reminder that we never walk alone.
Latham has felt like a doula since she was a child. She attended her aunt’s birth, bringing towels and stroking her forehead as she whispered affirmations into the air. These early experiences helped solidify Latham’s lifepath to honor and protect our inherent birthing rights.
Latham, you are so profoundly and intentionally rooted in birth. What brought you to choose this as your life’s work?
There were very particular points in my life where I knew that I would be anchored in birth work. But it really started when I was four years old in Oakland, California.
My mother was pregnant with my sister at the same time my aunt was pregnant, as well as my great-aunt, who was just a few years older than my mother. So there were three powerful Black women, all pregnant at the same time due within a month of each other; March, April and May.
When I look back, that was a really important time to anchor the belief system that I have around birth. My experiences declared it as magical and mystical but also deeply ancestral.
When we say ‘birth workers’, who does that encompass?
I think about doulas, herbalists, action consultants, mental health providers, spiritual guides, elders, and folks in our community who help us navigate this continuum. I think that a lot of how we resource as a community has been downplayed or vilified.
When we look at midwives and doulas, these are the people who are part of your birth village that will help you to, hopefully, achieve the birth outcome that you desire. It's work that we can't do on our own.
As a birth worker and founder, what do you feel is your role in the maternal health crisis?
I think there are people who dismantle; who tear stuff down and burn shit up. And there are people who build.
I'm on the side of building things, and I need and love people who tear stuff up. I love people who burn things down. But my energy is around the building and constructing of something new. What I see a lot of midwives and doulas working toward now is building what we want people to be able to live into.
As a builder, and with so much disempowerment in the birth space, what needs to be built next?
This decision [about Roe v. Wade] is going to impact us negatively in many ways. We have to use our ingenuity, which we have always done.
I also think that inside this moment, we have all the solutions — the ancestral wisdom, plant medicine, and incredible community design. We have done things that have helped us to thrive. We've created babysitting co-ops, collectives and shared housing. We have always had situations where our kin was an extended family. This moment is asking each of us to do something. And so you have to think about what that means for you. It'll be different for each of us, but you can start at any time and from any place.
How will the work change with Roe v. Wade overturned?
When considering how we shore up support for folks who cannot access abortion normally, what do we do? We show up. I think that it's gonna take getting really clever and understanding how to protect people. [The Supreme Court] is not going to end abortion. Unfortunately, what it's going to do is increase the chances of unsafe abortions, leaving more people at risk.
We have to think about how we design our own lives right now and plan a future that's safe for our children because nobody's creating that for us.
This work happens in an era when social media makes everything public. Do you worry about exposing too much for the sake of awareness?
I'm seeing folks who have not been inside of a movement and have not been adjacent to an issue like this who are essentially, because of hubris and whatever else, putting all of our maps out in the world.
We share everything [on social media]. Maybe it's because we need to emote and connect, but we also need a place to do that where they can't just come in and poach.
Let’s talk about the overall reproductive space. The resource of doulas and midwives still feels very gentrified. Is home birth accessible?
We have 37,000 OBGYNs in the United States; we have about 14,000 midwives; 6% identify as people of color and less than 2% are Black. That's in a nation where [historically] all the babies were delivered by Black or indigenous midwives. So how do we get to a place where there are almost no Black midwives? Well, we've legislated against it.
In some states, it’s even illegal to practice midwifery. We've also codified it in ways that criminalized the work and, at the same time, credentialed it so heavily that people can't even practice.
Have we also become distant from midwifery? There’s still a lot of fear around home birth, for example. How do you think we lost touch with that?
If we think about the knowledge base and knowledge transfer, we don't have a lot of stuff written down. You can look into the sixteen and 1700s and see medical journals. You're like, wow, look at all this knowledge. Guess what? They could also read legally. So, think about what it means to transfer knowledge in a climate where you can't read or write down the information.
Without substantial records, it’s incredible that the knowledge has remained alive.
Our information was coded in song and our bodies and through medicine, food, and concoctions with plants and animals. Within caregiving practices and rituals around birth and postpartum traditions, birthing rights were encoded so that they could be carried down.
When you say ‘birthing rights,’ can you shed some light on what that means?
I feel like we talk about birth and our existence scientifically through a lens of shame. The physician comes to rescue the baby from this body that is flawed. Somehow we're viewed by the healthcare system as needing someone to govern over our bodies that are wild.
But we have these events that happen that are not medical events. They're sacred. When they take place, we have the opportunity to transcend. There is an actual arc of transformation that takes place that is part of how we transition from one station in our life to another. Birthing rights are, essentially, rituals and ceremonies in action. Birthing rights create space for safety, witnessing, dignity, belonging, trust and transcendence.
I would like to get into the specifics of birth. What are the big takeaways when preparing for the various stages of birth — conception, pregnancy and postpartum?
For conception, everything that we take in is energy. What you eat, drink and think becomes your blood, your thoughts and your actions. So think about what you're consuming as the building blocks of making your baby.
As you're navigating pregnancy, I think it's important to learn how to receive help and support. It's a great opportunity as the body is changing, and things that were maybe easier before aren't as easy. Really get more accustomed to enlisting a community to support you.
On the postpartum side, I think that we forget that motherhood can be really isolating. It is critically important to consider, especially in the last couple of years with COVID, that people were by themselves. Having support is critical as well as licensed mental health support.
Let’s talk about Mama Glow. You have been training doulas since 2018; since then, the work has spread globally. How many doulas have you trained?
So Mama Glow is a Brooklyn-based and Black female-led organization. We started out training doulas in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Paris.
When COVID came, we were able to accommodate a lot of students; suddenly, it was fivefold. We [could] support so many more people on an online platform. Thankfully, we have been able to train close to 3,000 doulas globally.
Amazing. You are also bringing resources to the university system. Can you share a bit about that effort?
We are helping university students establish clubs on their campuses along with providing professional development support. A lot of students also intern at the Mama Glow foundation on their way to med school.
We have kids coming in that are doing gap years, currently in school, heading into med school, or heading into midwifery school. We are supporting them along the way with resources, educational support and mentorship. We also have job opportunities that are available to all of our doulas.
That’s a significant impact! As a founder, what makes you most proud?
I'm most proud of the doulas. When I meet people, and I hear what has brought them to this work and why they're committed to it, I'm just so touched. I'm moved by the hearts of our community members. I'm touched by the servant leadership, fortitude, and also the vulnerability that folks show up with. Everyone's coming to a space to facilitate healing in themselves but also to be of service to others.
What is the legacy you hope to leave in the world with your work?
I hope that I was just able to touch people. And I think that the work we do when we show up alongside folks who are bringing life into the world makes them feel safe and feel witnessed. I hope that in teaching, in service, and in any space that I can show up in, people feel held, swaddled and supported.
If, after working with me, people can feel like they can come back home to their bodies and free up some of the pain and be in the space of healing, I would hope that would be a part of my legacy.
Get this feature and the "My body and my baby know exactly what to do" mantra poster in print.
Deep Roots of Black Birth Zine
Cover Story: Interview with Latham Thomas covering her introduction into birth work, the story of giving birth to her son and the work she is doing with Mama Glow. Interview includes valuable nuggets about labor and delivery as she walks us through her life’s work and purpose.
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