Community Doula Alliance

Tag a midwife, doula, or provider who embodies this practice ✨

What Mama Shafia says is powerful - Mothers already know how to have babies.

Our job as professionals in birth work is to support, guide, and give real tools they can use when we’re not in the room.

Because the truth is—we leave, but they stay.

If we do this right, they can navigate the system with confidence, not fear.

That’s what humble care looks like. 💜

Most people think access is the problem.

It’s bigger than that.

If we want better care, we need to fund the people and orgs already doing the work in the community - not just talk about it.

Black doulas are changing what support looks like:

💜Rooted in trust
💜Built for the community
💜Able to do this work and get paid to do so

That part matters.

Because real care is more than just policy on paper - it’s who shows up, who gets paid, and who can keep showing up.

What would it look like if we invested in care before the crisis?

It's also one thing that gets overlooked way too easily...

This shouldn’t be considered a trend either!

Mama Shafia explains how postpartum belly wrapping can help moms feel more centered, more grounded, and less like their body is falling apart.

Because after birth, the uterus is still shrinking for weeks.

Wrapping can bring warmth, support the recti muscles, and even help with involution pain, especially after a C-section.

That “I feel so different” reaction?

That’s the part people say with huge relief when they’ve experienced the true care of this ancient cultural practice.

What’s something about postpartum recovery nobody prepared you for?

We didn’t train doulas to “just do hip squeezes.”

We inspire them to carry the full legacy of the 20th century African American midwife—care through pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum, breastfeeding, and newborn support.

That model changes everything for us.

You’re not left figuring it out alone after birth.

It’s about continuity, trust, and real support at every stage.

Full-circle care is the standard Mama Shafia honors as a doula trainer.

What would doula work look like if you honored ancestral and cultural knowledge?

Don’t get into this work because it’s trendy 👀

Hear how Kimberly got pulled into birth work because her community needed it.

Mama Shafia opened her eyes to how much people actually need this kind of information, and once she saw it, she couldn’t unsee it.

If this hits, drop a 💜

What’s something that pulled you into your purpose?

The narrative shift that changed modern Black birth work 💜

When legendary midwife elder Shafia Monroe founded ICTC, she changed the entire landscape of modern birth work by refusing to let Black birth be defined solely by struggle.

As she says, "It’s not always 'woe is me.' Here are solutions. We’ve always done this well."

Mama Shafia knows first hand how systemic racism historically displaced the Black midwife and disrupted generational systems of care.

But the work today isn't just about naming the harm—it's about reclaiming the excellence that was always there.

Centuries of traditional wisdom, solutions, and community power are returning to their roots. And it's beautiful to witness!

We owe deep gratitude to the elders, birth workers, and organizations who laid the groundwork and continue to build the future.

That's what this episode is about - tune in for the whole episde at the link in the bio 🔗💜

Have we been taught to shrink in rooms that were not built for us?

If so, then let's flip the script and stand tall.

Kimberly's line about needing to walk into mostly white spaces and say, "I'm qualified!" hit hard.

Our confidence as Black and Brown birth professionals is political warfare.

Our cultural pride is our way to survive.

Drop a 🔥 if you've felt this and needed the reminder!

Honestly, 5 years can feel like a blink and a lifetime at the same time.

There was so much that happened, and this program was a milestone in the making.

And it was so amazing to share the outcomes and impact with CityMatch this past week! CityMatCH