April 2017: Jamaa’s First Big Grant

April 30, 2017 / Okunsola M. Amadou

Jamaa Birth Village means family in the African language of Swahili. Come and go with me, on the humble beginnings and birthing of a village.

jamaa grant march of dimes

In April 2017, Jamaa Birth Village received its first major grant of $20k from March of Dimes to implement a Centering Pregnancy Program through our Midwifery Clinic. We were able to successfully host 2-groups from April-December. After our prenatal groups ended, many of our mothers desired a continued way to grow together and meet. So we decided to implement postpartum mom support groups the following year to keep our community of moms together, especially in the postpartum period when it’s needed the most. 

jamaa grant march of dimes
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Okunsola M. Amadou

Okunsola M. Amadou, a Fulani-American Midwife, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Jamaa Birth Village. Previously known as "Tru", Okunsola is an initiated Olokun and Egbe Priestess in the Isese religion, where she is currently studying as an Iyalorisha. During Okunsolas rites of passage, she received her traditional face markings, representing her nobility and position of royalty in her lineage.

She founded Jamaa Birth Village in 2015, in her Ferguson, MO living room, starting the St. Louis Black Doula movement and growing the St. Louis Black Doula community from 5 to 200+ in 5-years through her Community Doula Training, the city's first Black written, created and taught community-based doula training. In 2018, Okunsola created the St. Louis Doulas of Color Collective, which now boasts a thriving membership of 40+ Black Doulas and is home to Missouri’s first BIPOC Doula directory.

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