Episode 36 Black Lives Matter in Birth With Hawk & Chivon Newsome

How we birth is a political statement. Birth trauma is a political issue because it’s a human rights issue.

Imagine you’re pregnant and with kids and you’re sending your partner out for food or nappies and wondering if they’re going to be harassed, arrested or shot at?

Imagine going to the hospital to birth your baby and being told that your pain isn’t real? That you’re being too dramatic, that your health problems are your own fault. Imagine wondering if you’re even going to make it out of the hospital alive to see your family again?

In order to even begin to work on trauma, we need mothers to be alive

Black women are three to four times more likely to die in birth than white women.

Again, we’re not talking about the third world here. This is current daily life in New York City, and some stats are indicating that for new York, black women are even 12 times more likely to die than white women. This is in the Bronx, where my guests today grew up and are doing lifechanging humanitarian leadership on the ground. Brother and sister goals – the amazing Hawk and Chivona Newsome from Black Lives Matter New York chapter took time out to speak with me. We had a chat in the car while they were on their way back from delivering food to over 200 people. The Bronx is the global epicentre for covid-19. Hawk, Chivona and their team work and work and work so that people can have access to proper food, healthcare, housing and an end to oppression. I could see the see the exhaustion on their faces, and yet there’s a fire in there that can felt from oceans and oceans away.

Their parents met at a civil rights rally in the 1960’s, so you can say that they were born into this fight. They have both pledged their lives to bringing justice to this unjust system. If you can donate to the people’s food program, please do.

https://au.gofundme.com/f/PEOPLES-FOOD-PROGRAM

Donate to Save a Rose foundation, set up by Bruce, partner of Amber Rose Isaac to raise awareness of the disparities in the maternal mortality rate amongst women of colour.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/25fr1s6epc?member=5876644&rcid=21691913083746949a8aff83d145f184&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=sms&utm_source=customer

You can watch the video version of the podcast on my IGTV @doctorerinbowe or on YouTube

Follow Hawk: @hawk.newsome

Follow Chevona: @newyorkvonni

You can reach me @doctorerinbowe on instagram or www.doctorerin.com.au

Birth trauma training for birth workers the online course now has over 1400 students from 36 countries and 12 languages. https://www.udemy.com/course/birth-trauma-training-for-birth-workers/?referralCode=ABA1D879884EBBF44BA4

My other course, More Than a Healthy Baby: How to Cope With Birth Trauma is perfect for parents and birth workers who are navigating their own trauma. It’s an a la carte menu of some of my best tools and strategies. It’s not a replacement for therapy but it’s a starting point.

https://www.udemy.com/course/more-than-a-healthy-baby-how-to-cope-with-birth-trauma/?referralCode=092FFCAF4E5C01984978

Udemy also supports affiliates. This means that if you qualify, you can use a unique code for either of my courses to add to your website, socials or to give clients and you will receive a percentage of the course fee. It’s free to register, it’s just a bit of work to get yourself signed up https://www.udemy.com/affiliate/