EP#03: Bias in the Birthing Space with Kimberly Seals Allers

Beyond Beautiful Birth is a part of the EcoParent Podcast Network:
https://www.ecoparent.ca/podcasts

About the Episode

Join us as we talk to the incredible Kimberly Seals Allers about
American exceptionalism - the only industrialized nation in the
world that doesn’t have parental leave?? What’s up with that!? Why
are mothers both priceless and valueless in our capitalist world?
We discuss the idea that HOW we birth matters - the healthy mother,
healthy baby mantra can be a disservice to processing our birth
experiences. Kimberly tells us how she discovered through her own
journey to parenthood how impactful racism and ingrained social
structures are on the Black experience of birth and breastfeeding.
We delve into the shady big business of infant formula companies,
the issues with the Breast is Best movement and the illusion of
choice. Kimberly tells us how connecting with her son helped her
create the groundbreaking Irth app and we talk about what we’re
looking forward to in the birthing space and beyond.

Guest Bio & Links:

Kimberly Seals Allers is a powerhouse with a vision, on a mission
to transform the experience of motherhood for all and to eradicate
racial disparities in birth and breastfeeding. Kimberly is an award
winning journalist, a writer of 5 books, including The Mocha Manual
Series, an award winning pregnancy and parenting guide for African
Americans. Her fifth book, The Big Let Down — How Medicine, Big
Business and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding is working to shift
the narrative of maternal and child health issues by activating our
collective power as women and reframing breastfeeding as a
biological right, as opposed to a choice.

Kimberly is an internationally renowned speaker, a strategist and a
fierce advocate for maternal and infant health. She is a leading
commentator on birth, breastfeeding and motherhood and the
intersection of race, policy, and culture. She is a femtech founder
of the Irth App - spelled like Birth, but dropping the B for Bias -
a Yelp-like app developed to address racism & bias in maternity
& infant care. Kimberly is an advocate, a mama of 2 on a
mission to question, challenge, disrupt and reimagine how we talk
about birth and breastfeeding and then breaking down the many
structural barriers women face in these areas.

Web: https://kimberlysealsallers.com/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/iamksealsallers/
App: https://apps.apple.com/us/story/id1595967978

Host Bio & Links:

Dr Dori Skye Engel is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor and Birth
Doula practicing family medicine in Toronto with a special interest
in Pregnancy, Pediatrics and Perimenopause. Mama to three
wonderful, intense and dramatically different boys, she believes
strongly in the innate wisdom of the human body and our powerful
ability to heal. She can be found at
http://www.familynaturopathy.ca
http://www.instagram.com/mamadoll
http://www.facebook.com/DrDoriND

Natalie Tregaskiss is a Registered Midwife, a Labour and Delivery
Nurse and a Board Certified Lactation Consultant who has been
supporting families for over 17 years. She has three amazing
children whom she is constantly learning from. Through her unique
breadth of experience she helps parents birth with autonomy and
transition to authentic parenthood. She can be found at
http://www.instagram.com/tregaskiss1

About the EcoParent Podcast Network:

The EcoParent Podcast Network helps busy families live a healthier,
greener lifestyle. Our host experts are imperfect, real, busy
parents just like you who share ways to lower our collective carbon
footprint and practical strategies that make a difference to your
family’s health, the planet and to our children’s future. We offer
raw, honest conversations and actionable advice across our six
podcasts: pregnancy & birth, pediatric wellness, kids’
nutrition, green beauty, healthy home, and raising greener teens.
Join us and get inspired to live a more sustainable, healthy life!
www.ecoparent.ca/podcasts

Partnerships:

Audio magic on this episode was performed by the incredible Kattie
Laur.

This pilot episode was made possible with support from Ontario
Creates.