From the time I started researching midwifery schools to the time I began, I wanted to soak up all the information I could. I knew my time would quickly fill with textbooks, so I began grounding myself in the voices of Black midwives, truth-tellers, and teachers who have long laid the foundation for supporting our families.
This stack of books became my “starter pack.” Listen to Me Good and Motherwit grounded me in the voices of midwives who caught babies in the face of racism, poverty, and neglect yet still held families and communities together. Say Anarcha and Medical Bondage confront the brutal reality that modern gynecology was built on the abuse and exploitation of enslaved Black women. Weathering gives voice to what so many already know in our bones – that racism grinds down our bodies over a lifetime.
These aren’t just books. I see them as clear instructions, written warnings. And a reminder that midwifery is never just clinical it’s ancestral, political, and deeply human. They remind me that becoming a midwife is also about listening, remembering, and showing up differently than the systems we’ve inherited.
The textbook stack is pretty heavy right now, but I’ve promised myself I will do my best to always make space for literature that feeds the spirit as much as the mind. Because I’m committed to carrying forward wisdom, honoring the past, and helping build a more just future for birthing people.
What’s been grounding you lately? Any books, stories, or voices that keep you grounded?
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