Replay - EBB 152 Shafia Monroe on Traditional Midwifery, Spirituality, and Advocacy
Release Date: 07/20/2022
EBB 397 - Words of Wisdom about Birth that Can Bring You a Sense of Calm and Peace
Evidence Based Birth®
Pregnancy and birth don't require perfection to be empowering. In this solo episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker shares share five life lessons she’s learned over 14 years as a nurse, mother, and founder of Evidence Based Birth. She offers grounding guidance for navigating pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood with more trust, self-compassion, and calm. This episode centers on the idea that you don’t have to know everything to have a positive birth experience. Instead, Dr. Dekker explores how building a supportive team, staying connected to your body, and focusing on what you can control can...
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EBB 396 - Inequities in VBAC Access with Dr. Nicholas Rubashkin, MD, PhD
Evidence Based Birth®
The evidence shows that vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) is a safe option for many families, but it’s still frequently inaccessible to them. In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker and Dr. Nicholas Rubashkin discuss the systemic barriers that limit families’ opportunities to choose a VBAC. They explore how hospital policies, outdated guidelines, and clinical tools like the VBAC calculator have shaped who’s a “good candidate” and who is not. Dr. Rubashkin also shares insights from his research on inequities in maternity care, including how race-adjusted algorithms reinforce...
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Induction Bootcamp Coming Soon
Evidence Based Birth®
Learn more about EBB's upcoming Induction Bootcamp on Tuesday, April 28 from 2:00 - 4:30 PM EDT. To save your seat or access the replay, join the EBB Pro Membership for just $39 for your first 30 days: .
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EBB 395 - Postpartum Practices from African American Traditions with Shafia Monroe, Midwife and Author of Mothering the Mother
Evidence Based Birth®
Postpartum care wasn’t always rushed, clinical, or isolating. In many African-American communities, the weeks after birth were treated as sacred time where families and communities gathered to care for the mother so she could focus on caring for her baby. In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker talks with renowned midwife, cultural historian, and author Shafia Monroe about the traditions documented in her new book Mothering the Mother: African-American Postpartum Traditions, Recipes, and Healing. Mama Shafia shares how historically rooted postpartum practices—from the 42-day...
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REPLAY: EBB 357 - Making Decisions about Elective Induction of Labor with Dr. Ann Peralta & Kari Radoff, CNM, from Partner to Decide
Evidence Based Birth®
Every pregnant person deserves the information and support they need to make truly informed decisions about labor induction. In this encore episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker talks with Dr. Ann Peralta and Kari Radoff, CNM, the co-creators of Partner to Decide, a nonprofit improving decision-making in perinatal care. They discuss their free, multilingual decision aid that helps families understand their options around routine induction of labor and empowers them to advocate for their own values, preferences, and autonomy. Ann shares how her own birth experience, shaped by access to education and...
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EBB 394 - Team EBB's Stance on AI in our Workplace
Evidence Based Birth®
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how people search for information, including how families learn about pregnancy and birth. As this technology grows, it raises important questions about accuracy, ethics, and the role of human expertise in healthcare information. In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker and Dr. Sara Ailshire share a behind-the-scenes look at how Evidence Based Birth® developed its own AI policies. They discuss concerns about misinformation, bias, privacy, and environmental impact, as well as the potential effects on critical thinking and human connection. ...
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EBB 393 - Evidence on Inducing at 41 Weeks or Later
Evidence Based Birth®
At the 41-week mark in pregnancy, conversations and decisions about induction can start to feel more urgent and complex. In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker and Dr. Sara Ailshire share why the 41st week has become such a focus in maternity care and what the evidence actually says about induction at this milestone. They discuss elective induction versus expectant management and key findings from major studies like the INDEX and SWEPIS trials. They also talk through potential benefits and risks, including changes in stillbirth risk, newborn outcomes, and maternal experiences. ...
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EBB 392 - Enduring a 54-Hour Long Induction for Preeclampsia with Paige Wener and Kevin Booth, Graduates of the EBB Childbirth Class
Evidence Based Birth®
EBB Childbirth Class Graduates Paige Wener and Kevin Booth hoped for a low-intervention water birth at their midwife-led birth center in rural Vermont. But at 38 weeks and 6 days, a routine prenatal visit led to a surprise diagnosis of preeclampsia and recommendation for induction. In this episode, Paige and Kevin share the story of their 54-hour induction, including misoprostol, a Cook catheter, Pitocin, and eventually an epidural after more than a day of labor, with Kevin supporting Paige with counterpressure, movement, and comfort measures along the way. Paige also shares about recovering...
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EBB 391 - Electronic Fetal Monitoring Advocacy Tips with Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, OB/GYN and Author of The Birth Book
Evidence Based Birth®
Electronic fetal monitoring is one of the most common interventions in hospital birth, but it's also one of the least understood. In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Dekker talks with board-certified OB-GYN Dr. Jennifer Lincoln about what continuous electronic fetal monitoring actually does, what the research says, and why it became such a routine part of labor care in the first place. With recent media attention shining a spotlight on this technology, they break down the history, the evidence, and the real-world pressures that shape how it’s used today. Learn why continuous monitoring can increase...
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EBB 390 - Simple but Effective Communication Techniques for Hospital Birth with Dr. Amber Weiseth, DNP, RNC-OB of Ariadne Labs and TeamBirth
Evidence Based Birth®
In this episode, we explore how the traditional “game of telephone” model in hospitals can leave birthing people out of critical decisions about their own care and what happens when we redesign the system to center them instead. Dr. Rebecca Dekker sits down with Dr. Amber Weiseth, obstetric nurse and Director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs, to talk about TeamBirth—a simple, evidence-based communication model transforming labor and delivery units across the U.S. and globally. Learn how structured bedside “huddles,” shared decision-making, and a visible planning...
info_outlineToday, I am so excited to present to you a replay of one of our most popular episodes on the Evidence Based Birth® podcast, and that is an episode from 2020 with special guest, Shafia Monroe. Before we get started with the replay, I wanted to let you know that this episode contains discussion of Black infant and maternal mortality related to racism, slavery and Jim Crow, and racism that continues to affect people’s lives today.
Shafia gave us such an inspirational episode in 2020, that we wanted to bring it back for those of you who are new to EBB, or for those of you who’ve listened to it before. Whenever I listen to this episode, it fills me with a sense of awe for Black traditional midwives, and it gives me hope while it reminds me of the tenacity of the human spirit.
So join us today as we replay this episode and you go on a storytelling journey with Mama Shafia Monroe about spirituality and traditional midwives.
In today’s podcast episode, we’re going to talk with Shafia Monroe about the role of the traditional midwife.
Shafia Monroe is a public health professional, a midwife, a motivational speaker, founder of the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, or ICTC, which was the first US-based black midwives and doulas professional organization. Shafia is also an author, infant mortality prevention specialist, doula trainer, and president of Doula Ready, LLC. Since 2002, she has trained thousands of people in doula trainings, with one-third of them going on to become midwives. In 2012, Shafia received her Master of Public Health from Walden University. In 2014, she opened Shafia Monroe Consulting, a cultural competency training service. Shafia has received numerous awards for her work, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Midwife Hero Award.
In this podcast, Ms. Monroe discusses the history of Black traditional midwifery and incorporating spirituality into birth work. We also talk about Shafia’s experience becoming a traditional Black midwife, along with her passion for advocacy in birth work through her doula program and her community.
**Trigger Content Warning: This podcast episode discusses racism and infant loss.**
Resources
- Learn more about Shafia Monroe and SMC Full Circle Doula Birth Companion Training here (https://shafiamonroe.com/).
- Follow Shafia on Instagram and Black Midwife Cooking here (https://www.instagram.com/shafiamonroe/).
- Follow Shafia on Twitter here (https://twitter.com/Shafia_SMC).
- Follow Shafia on Facebook here (https://www.facebook.com/shafiamonroeconsulting/).
- Click here (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/birth-justice/) to see the Evidence Based Birth® list of Birth Justice Resources, including research on racism and maternal health.
- More resources are listed on the the blog post at https://www.evidencebasedbirth.com/152