Mothering the Mother

Renowned midwife, doula trainer, and Master of Public Health Shafia Monroe reintroduces and celebrates the lost art of African American postpartum healing traditions in this practical, essential guide to maternal health. As a mother, grandmother, and traditional midwife, Shafia M. Monroe intimately knows about childbirth and the fourth trimester. Over forty years, she's helped thousands give birth and has taught thousands more how to support birthing parents, all integrating the deep wisdom of African American healing traditions. Long suppressed by the white medical establishment, these practices — such as belly binding, heat, herbs, the lying-in period, and the "taking-out-of-bed ritual" — are powerful healing tools. Using them, we mother the mother through a healthy postpartum period. While this framework will be powerful healing for all mothers, the information in this book can save Black mothers' lives. With African American women disproportionately suffering from maternal mortality and morbidity, there is an urgent need for an embrace of African American postpartum care that surrounds the new mother and her baby with community, love, and protection. Reconnecting Black women to their postpartum traditions can help reduce common discomforts of birth and empower families to be proactive about their medical care. Mothering the Mother is a resource for Black women and communities to reclaim their cultural traditions for a healthy postpartum recuperation.