Mothering the Mother: African American Postpartum Traditions with Shafia Monroe

In this rich and powerful episode, host Augustine is joined by co-host Israel Johnson, Licensed Direct Entry Midwife and Certified Professional Midwife from Oregon, to welcome the legendary Shafia Monroe — midwife, author, cultural historian, and founder of the SMC Full Circle Doula Training, the first Black doula training launched nationally in 2002 in Portland, Oregon.

Shafia has just published her long-awaited book, Mothering the Mother: African American Postpartum Traditions, Recipes and Healing, and this conversation is a celebration of that birth — and so much more.

In this episode we cover:

  • Shafia's 11-year journey from journal entry to published book
  • Why African American postpartum care has been largely invisible — and why that must change
  • The historical trauma Black mothers carry, and the healing power of returning to traditions
  • Why anemia may be at the root of more postpartum depression than we realize
  • The herbs every postpartum mother should have on hand 
  • Shafia's relationship with Erykah Badu, who wrote the foreword and called the book "the postpartum Bible"
  • Why more clinical visits is NOT the same as postpartum care
  • The ongoing "midwife problem" in America — and why change is urgently needed.
  • The critical mass of home birth across US states and what it means for the future of midwifery
  • Why we need to retire the word "patient" for pregnant people — and the word BIPOC
  • The burnout crisis in midwifery and why we must return to a collective model

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