STL's 1st African-American Geared & Cultural Competent Perinatal Doula Training

After completely enjoying my Perinatal Doula Training at UZAZI Village in KCMO this past November, Community Birth & Wellness Center will now host this amazing training in the STL!! This course builds you to compassionately care for women, youth & families in your community while training you to run your own doula business as a Community Health Worker. Read my journey to this accomplishment below.

Our creator has continued to place me on the path to learn and grow on my journey as a midwife. I've always had a deep desire to become certified as a Doula through an African-American doula training, and boy did my wish come true! After joining the board of the St. Louis Breastfeeding Coalition, I received notice of a Perinatal Doula Training in Kansas City, MO. in November 2015 to become a Labor & Postpartum Doula, Sexual & Reproductive Health Counselor, Childbirth Educator, & Breastfeeding Peer Counselor over a 9-day period. I thought to myself, this is the one! I didn't know how I was going to pull off a 9-day consecutive training with my three year old Kaleo at thome, but I knew I had to do it!

I contacted Sherry Payne with UZAZI Village and she was extremely supportive with assisting me with the scholarship procedure to become a Sister Doula! I quickly became immersed in the strides she was making in KC and how I can learn from her mission of ending infant and maternal mortality in our black communities. She shared how I could bring awareness and change in our community, so I created a walk in North County St. Louis. I colored signs and taped them to my Jeep and was proud that I could bring attention to something so dear and true to my heart that needed to change. Why only in black communities are women and babies 3-5% more likely to die within the 1st year? Due to systematic racial barriers. The solution to this issue is in the black community and within the cultural competent health professionals. We can change birthing outcomes for women and babies of color through education & quality perinatal care. This is one of the reasons our creator has called me to do what I do!

I also joined Sherry on her 2nd annual "Black Infant Mortality Awareness Walk" in September 2015. We walked many long scenic miles along the Katy Trail sharing our passions, goals, and stories. We were joined by another midwife from Wisconsin and continued the journey into the late night of the blood full Moon as we arrived in Jefferson, City, the capital of Missouri. I found out that myself and Sherry are the only two black home birth midwife students in the state of Missouri and we were divinely connected on this path together.

The following weekend I was invited with Sherry to the "Holy Land" also known as very sacred land in the Ozarks owned by Sister Morningstar, a well known midwife throughout the US. We sat around the fire, shared meals, tea, words of wisdom, and goals to assist mamas overcome the barriers of quality care during their perinatal period. I was so honored to be apart of the sacred circle and call of the great ones to guide us. I met a beautiful sister named Grace who was from Kenya and living in the US for years. She shared her voyage of going back home and studying the growth of children up until child age following famine while they were babies in their mothers womb. She's an anthropologist and her work was phenomenal. I felt a deep connection with her that day and knew we'd always be sisters. I left the holy land healed with a fire started in my bones!

I applied for a full schoarship to attend the Perinatal Doula training and received noticed that it was approved. I began to peice together my accomodations, extra cash for food, and care for my boys while I was away. The beautiful thing was that my boys were able to stay at home and was taken care of by family and it all worked out!! I actually drove down a day earlier to meet with Sherry for a reception and was joined by my colleagues at the Community Birth & Wellness Center. We had a blast, talking, sharing, and gaining direction on how to continue with our non-profit organization. I was helping a sister from the community out as well who so truly wanted to take the training and we shared a space together the first few nights at a hotel, so after the reception, we went and got snacks & dinner to settle in for the night.

The first day in class was surreal, it was really happening. I learned and re-learned so much. As a CLC I figured taking a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor training wouldn't necessarily take me over the top, but let me tell you it did! I was able to learn so many more details in such a close knit setting vs. a big training with so many people. I felt as if Sherry was teaching all of us things that I would soon learn in midwifery school. She was truly preparing us to be the best doulas, with a keen sense of intellilgence, with true skill, and the know-how scoop on running our own business. Each day we had a potluck and ate fabuously!! We would rotate to a different side of the room as the sun would set to keep our energy high and our minds fresh :) It was just fun and awesome.

Of course with me being me and being totally mesmerized by the language, science, and truth of intimacy, my favorite part of the training was the sexual & reproductive health counselor peice. We got the chance to play around with so many different protection methods, models, as well as share stories and words that were ingrained in us since childhood. We learned what real consent was and what it was not so that we could change the stigmas that many people face in our community. This traininig by far exceeded all of my expectations.

The most beautiful part was that Sherry found me and another sister a host for half of our trip, and it turned out to be Grace from Sister Morningstar's place!! Each night we would cook together, laugh and chat. We went to the market and picked out fresh herbs and spices for dinner, and just enjoyed true sisterhood. Talk about feeling at home! I would arise each morning to Yoga in her magical backyard and take a small walk a couple blocks down to UZAZI. It truly felt like a close knit neighborhood and I was happy to share that small peice of destiny during that time.

We finished our last couple days with a field trip to a Birth Center in Kansas City, Kansas follwed by a delicious dinner at a local Indian Restaurant. I drove for a chance since we'd been walking to class or Grace was driving to show us around town. I was actually honored to have my jeep full of intelligent, loving women who are on similar paths as me. The ride was nice, robust with laughter, and full of memories. At graduation we shared our heights of the training followed by what we planned on doing with our new found knowledge, wisdom and certifications; and we all washed that down with red velevet cake!!

Fast forward to two months later and UZAZI Village has now agreed to partner with Community Birth & Wellness Center our non-profit birthing center in Ferguson as well as to host St. Louis's first African-American geared Perinatal Doula training. Talk about divine connections. We're creating better birthing outcomes not only in St. Louis and KC, but in the entire state of Missouri.

If you're interested in learning more about what to expect from this training, please contact me by email bcampbell@cbwcstl.org or by phone 314-643-7703.