Holistic Care as a Form of Resistance

The Emancipation Proclamation (the document that said all people (think Black Americans) were declared free) was signed on Jan 1, 1863. During these times, there was no social media, or overnight shipping. It took time for news to reach people. Some states, due to the imbalance of who was in charge and allowed to receive information, decided to ignore the Proclamation, and keep those enslaved, enslaved. It wasn’t until June 19, 1865, when 250,000 enslaved Black Americans in Texas earned their freedom. Thus, creating the significance of Juneteenth! Enter in the Reconstruction period, in which Black Americans gained elected positions in local governments and began to create towns and wealth for themselves. By 1885, segregation was gaining ground, and Jim Crow Laws began to appear everywhere.

I bet you’re thinking, this is blog about pelvic health and birth, why is she giving me a history lesson? Well, it lays the foundation for mindsets. Until the 19teens, midwifery was the go-to for delivering babies. A majority of these midwives, learned their skill set from their mothers, and their mother’s mothers, and their mother’s mother’s mothers. Basically, the information was passed down, how to help mothers cope, how to heal with herbs, even cesareans were done successfully in Africa for years prior to Western Medical Doctors taking on the procedure. Women gave birth at home, and it was the local midwife in the town who delivered the babies. A large number of times, that local midwife, was a Black woman.

Now, enter in the period of 1910- 1920, in 1910, the Flexnor Report (filled with racist, sexist, and classist undertone) concluded that American obstetricians were poorly trained, and to remedy that, force poor women to give birth in the charity hospitals, were they would be “trained”. The goal, to abolish midwifery. Peggy Vincent, a Certified Nurse Midwife in Northern California, wrote in her book, “Baby Catcher” about the first time she was with a laboring mom during nursing school. She described it as the summer of 1962 in North Carolilna, where she was with a Black mother who was in labor in the hospital. She describes how frustrated she was because this mother would not stay in the bed. The mom knew instinctually that her body needed to move to work with the baby as they made their way down the birth canal. The mother’s instinctual moans and groans as she labored were classified as animal in nature to the doctors in the hospital, and when it was time for her to push, they began to wheel her down the hall to administer anesthesia, for “twilight sleep”, common in the 1950s and 60s that left a birthing mother unknowing of what had happened to her. All rights and autonomy striped. Peggy writes about how the birthing mother, kept saying she should have gone home to her grandmother’s house to deliver her baby, because she would know what to do.

Fast forward to the year 2024, and more and more women, especially Black women, are saying the same thing. COVID made it more pronounce; they would rather give birth in their home, their safe space, than go to a hospital, where their rights and autonomy may be striped. Midwifery is making a comeback, and women are more invested in the holistic care of their bodies, especially during the preconception, prenatal, and immediate postpartum stages of their lives. Maybe it’s the algorithm, but my feed is full of women invested in herbs and natural remedies for colds, rashes, cramp relief, any ailment you can think of. More women are beginning to see birth as a normal physiological process and NOT a pathological one. When I look at this reawakening, I see it as the ultimate resistance. I see it as remembering who we are, and what we are capable of.

Enter, inclusivity into the realm of holistic care. Does my doula look like me, and understand my experiences? Does my midwife, understand why I don’t want this procedure on a cultural level, or will I have to explain my reasoning? Does my nutritionist understand the nutritional value of cultural foods, and how to maintain balance while enjoying foods that nourish my soul as well as my body? Is my Pelvic therapist sensitive to my traumas, and equipped to help me navigate my healing process without judgment? There is one thing I have realized in life, and that is, when you have been traumatized by something, no matter the thing, you don’t want to have to explain why something may trigger that trauma. It’s why people avoid certain healthcare providers, to protect themselves.

During my second pregnancy I went for my first prenatal appointment after confirming my home pregnancy test. I saw the same OB who I saw for a majority of my first pregnancy, which ended in preeclampsia. She brings up the preeclampsia, and tells me at 12 weeks I would start a daily baby aspirin regimen through 32 or 34 weeks. I said, ok, is that it? She says yes. I felt really uncomfortable with that answer. I was traumatized from my previous pregnancy. I had severe prenatal anxiety and I felt dismissed. For my next appointment, I scheduled with another provider who took time to listen to me, and provide greater context and details throughout my pregnancy. It may be a coincidence, that my new provider looked like me, which meant she had a similar life experience as my own. Not saying it’s the same, but noting that cultural factors play a role in how we care for others.

In the month of June, many people celebrate Juneteenth as a way of reliving our freedom. I would like to challenge you to take that a step further and think about your body’s freedom. Ignoring what the status quo is for what they say is normal and digging deeper into what liberates your soul? Can you have pleasure during penetration even though you were told all your life that sex was a sinful act? Can you heal your family’s seasonal colds with herbs, even though some providers try to discourage you from using them? Can you feel empowered as you let your body guide you while you give birth to your baby? Can you ignore the noise when people gawk and stare because you dare to feed your baby with the nutrients they need to grow in public? Can you comfort your baby by wearing them close to your chest, your heartbeat, rather than trying to soothe them in ways less familiar to them?

Taking charge of our care and autonomy is a form of resistance. It puts the power into your hands. With power comes responsibility. What is natural, isn’t necessarily instinctual, especially when you were raised in captivity. It requires some help and some guidance.

There’s a story of a gorilla that was born in the zoo. The gorilla was not raised around other gorillas to see how to nurture a baby. The gorilla got pregnant and had a baby, but didn’t know how to nurse it. The zookeepers were afraid the baby would die. They reached out to the local La Leche League group, and moms came to the zoo and sat in front of the gorilla, and nursed their babies. The gorilla saw this, and began to nurse her baby.

We need to reach out for help, for education, for guidance. We need a support system. I’ve talked about this before, but a team is so necessary, especially when you are pregnant. Sure, we’re women and we’re capable of doing it all, but we’re not supposed to! As humans, even us introverted ones, desire community, a place to belong. That community is what helps us thrive! So get the Massage Therapist, the Herbalist, the Pelvic Health Therapist, the OB and the midwife, should you need both, the doula, the Lactation Consultant, the family support, and/ or the community support! Because when we have help doing the mom things, it takes less stress off of us, and allows us to love on those around us much better!