Collected Item: “Ife Adebowale Oral History, 2022/02/28”
Title
Interview with Ife Adebowale
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Ife Adebowale
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#advocacy, #affirmations, #alternativemedicine; #ancestors, #Black, #children, #Columbus, #COVID+, #doula, #education, #educator, #engagement, #fear, #food, #Georgia, #gratitude, #homebirth, #hospital, #mandates, #medicalracism, #meditation, #mother, #onlineteaching, #parent, #parenting, #partnership, #peace, #positivity, #pregnancy, #proBlack, #race, #racism, #selfcare, #spirituality, #teaching, #uncertainty, #vaccination, #vitamins
What is the format of your recording?
Video
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Columbus, Georgia, USA
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
Female
What is the age of the interviewee?
35 to 44
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
African-American
Describe the oral history.
Self-description:
“Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening to anyone that is listening. Again my name is Ife Adebowale and I am the founder and owner of Cherishing Life Beginnings Doula, Birth, and Educational Services, LLC here in Columbus, Georgia. Our mission here in Columbus, Georgia right now, we are a community based service organization, so, our mission here in Columbus, Georgia is to be able to provide low cost affordable care to those mothers that aren’t able to afford a doula or a birthworker in general. We are here to aid with alleviating the systematic and structural racism in the healthcare system, and we are also here to just be advocates. We are a organization that is advocate of home births, natural births and assisted, and advocates for breastfeeding. In a nutshell we are here anything and everything that a Mother Earth needs while she is going through pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.”
Some of the things we spoke about include:
The loss of Black and Brown history, and the whitewashing of Black and Brown histories when told; Black women in the history of midwifery, wetnursing, and caring for babies
Deciding to become a doula based on a personal traumatic experience during pregnancy
Not wanting other mothers to experience traumas
Delivering own child
How hospital visitation restrictions during COVID impacted doula presence in hospital
Gap in healthcare treatment for Black and Brown women; the pandemic exposing this
Fears that the pandemic would reduce women’s interest in doulas; grateful to have been wrong about this
The pandemic changing people’s ideas of health, and with that pregnancy
Networking in person pre-pandemic and creative problem solving for distance or support
Transitioning a birth education class from in person to online; expanding the audience globally
Support for fathers to better support mothers
Encouraging delayed cord cutting
Placenta encapsulation, belly binding, lotus births, maternity planning, blessingway
The ethics of hospitals keeping the placenta and using it for research
Keeping grounded: meditation, journaling, being in nature, gratitude, affirmations
Listening to positive music and affirmations to move forward with positivity
The pandemic bringing people to closer; watching how much people care; feeling a part of a bigger “we”
Government splitting people apart; elitism; global wealth inequality
Slow political change; the difference between increased awareness and systemic change
Community based doulas–those outside of a handful of approved doula associations–not being permitted in the hospital; that these associations are predominantly white; historical connections to the experiences of Black midwives; financially punitive access to professional organizations; hierarchies in the profession based on education vs. apprenticeship
Being pro-Black
A Mother Earth being denied authority over pain medication and management and advocating for the mother
Having to be home more; having more time to be a mother and give own children emotional support
The difference between curing an ailment and treatment
Having had COVID, vitamins, rest; experiences happening for a reason
BigPharma, for profit healthcare, vaccines; alternative medicine; preventative care
Mandates and infringing on rights
Getting engaged during the pandemic; being supported by a partner while sick
The alkaline body and health
Talking with children about COVID in plain speech; not talking down to children
The difficulty of self-care when considering the needs of five children and a partner; learning to perform selfcare
See also:
https://www.cherishinglifebeginnings.com
https://shoutoutatlanta.com/meet-ife-adebowale-certified-birth-and-postpartum-doula-student-midwife-childbirth-educator-doula-trainer-instructor-spiritual-healer/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/naturopathic-practitioner-midwifery-certification
“Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening to anyone that is listening. Again my name is Ife Adebowale and I am the founder and owner of Cherishing Life Beginnings Doula, Birth, and Educational Services, LLC here in Columbus, Georgia. Our mission here in Columbus, Georgia right now, we are a community based service organization, so, our mission here in Columbus, Georgia is to be able to provide low cost affordable care to those mothers that aren’t able to afford a doula or a birthworker in general. We are here to aid with alleviating the systematic and structural racism in the healthcare system, and we are also here to just be advocates. We are a organization that is advocate of home births, natural births and assisted, and advocates for breastfeeding. In a nutshell we are here anything and everything that a Mother Earth needs while she is going through pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.”
Some of the things we spoke about include:
The loss of Black and Brown history, and the whitewashing of Black and Brown histories when told; Black women in the history of midwifery, wetnursing, and caring for babies
Deciding to become a doula based on a personal traumatic experience during pregnancy
Not wanting other mothers to experience traumas
Delivering own child
How hospital visitation restrictions during COVID impacted doula presence in hospital
Gap in healthcare treatment for Black and Brown women; the pandemic exposing this
Fears that the pandemic would reduce women’s interest in doulas; grateful to have been wrong about this
The pandemic changing people’s ideas of health, and with that pregnancy
Networking in person pre-pandemic and creative problem solving for distance or support
Transitioning a birth education class from in person to online; expanding the audience globally
Support for fathers to better support mothers
Encouraging delayed cord cutting
Placenta encapsulation, belly binding, lotus births, maternity planning, blessingway
The ethics of hospitals keeping the placenta and using it for research
Keeping grounded: meditation, journaling, being in nature, gratitude, affirmations
Listening to positive music and affirmations to move forward with positivity
The pandemic bringing people to closer; watching how much people care; feeling a part of a bigger “we”
Government splitting people apart; elitism; global wealth inequality
Slow political change; the difference between increased awareness and systemic change
Community based doulas–those outside of a handful of approved doula associations–not being permitted in the hospital; that these associations are predominantly white; historical connections to the experiences of Black midwives; financially punitive access to professional organizations; hierarchies in the profession based on education vs. apprenticeship
Being pro-Black
A Mother Earth being denied authority over pain medication and management and advocating for the mother
Having to be home more; having more time to be a mother and give own children emotional support
The difference between curing an ailment and treatment
Having had COVID, vitamins, rest; experiences happening for a reason
BigPharma, for profit healthcare, vaccines; alternative medicine; preventative care
Mandates and infringing on rights
Getting engaged during the pandemic; being supported by a partner while sick
The alkaline body and health
Talking with children about COVID in plain speech; not talking down to children
The difficulty of self-care when considering the needs of five children and a partner; learning to perform selfcare
See also:
https://www.cherishinglifebeginnings.com
https://shoutoutatlanta.com/meet-ife-adebowale-certified-birth-and-postpartum-doula-student-midwife-childbirth-educator-doula-trainer-instructor-spiritual-healer/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/naturopathic-practitioner-midwifery-certification
On what date did you record this oral history?
2022-02-28