Everyone can support African American doulas and mothers

I want to let everyone know about the International Center for Traditional Childbearing, an organization that trains doulas and midwives throughout the USA, with a special emphasis on preventing infant mortality and promoting breastfeeding in the African American community, where infant mortality rates are the highest in the nation.  Any person is welcome to attend an ICTC doula training or conference, locate a doula trained by ICTC, apply for membership in the organization, and make donations to support their work.  (For more information about the role of doulas in reducing prematurity and infant mortality, see pages 9-11 of my book, The Doula Guide to Birth.)

ICTC publishes a beautiful, full-color online newsletter called Black Midwives and Healers Review.  The newsletter is normally available only to those with a paid membership in ICTC, but as of the writing of this blog post, the Fall 2012 edition of the newsletter is available for viewing by the general public for free, by clicking here.  This edition is a 31-page newsletter which covers topics including:

• Grammy Award winner Erykah Badu announced as the international spokesperson for ICTC
• Interview with Oakland, CA birth center owner Selena Green
• An Afro-centric pregnancy fair in Portland, OR
• Working with women who have undergone female genital cutting
• Legislation enabling home birth and birth center midwives to be paid by Medicaid
• A description of ICTC doula trainings and conferences

I encourage everyone to join me in supporting the work of ICTC by visiting their Web site, reading the newsletter, attending a training or conference, and becoming a member of the organization.