Posts by Okunsola M. Amadou

Relaunching our organization was no easy task. We temporarily discontinued Midwifery care as we awaited the completion of my Midwifery education program, and we were finding our footing with grassroots grant writing and fundraising to fund our programs and visions. It was tough, but, one day, I had another vision. It began with a flash of the original…

As a part of our relaunch, we also launched the St. Louis Doulas of Color Collective in January 2018. This would be Missouri’s and St. Louis’s first BIPOC Doula collective, led by Black women for all women of color who were considering a path in becoming a Doula or who were trained Doulas.

On Monday January 22nd, 2018, we relaunched our organization and held an open house sharing our renewed mission, vision and name with our community. In Feb 2018 we held our first mom support groups!

Due to many barriers that show up for Black student Midwives, I received new visions that led me to move our organization away from a white supervisory model and into the hands of our own solutions. 

April 2017, Jamaa Birth Village hosted its first Community Baby Shower providing nourishing meals combined with pregnancy and childbirth education.

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.

In October of 2016, we celebrated our 1st annual gala! Many of our supporters, friends, and clients came to celebrate with us. The Brian Owens Band played tunes, while we enjoyed appetizers, stories, and gathering together in honor of the work that had started to grow vastly beyond my imagination.

Our Thursday Midwife clinic days were becoming increasingly popular. Women would drive across Illinois state lines to be seen for home birth Midwifery care, and we needed to find our own space to call home.

In April 2016, Jamaa Birth Village hosted St. Louis’s first Doula training and I co-taught a class of 13-new Doula students in my dining room over the course of 8-days.

The Midwife supervisor of the day arrived, and next thing you know, the sun was fully up, I had a sign on my backdoor to welcome our new clients, and excitingly, I saw the first car pull into the back parking lot. My heart jumped for joy, and visions of Africa flooded my memory. I just knew that Black pregnant women in my community, one day, would be alright.