Okunsola M. Amadou
President & CEO |
Jamaa Birth Village
Pronouns: She/Her
Okunsola M. Amadou, a Texas native, is a Traditional & Certified Professional Midwife, Certified Doula & Trainer, and Priestess. Okunsola is the President and CEO of Jamaa Birth Village, founded in 2015, in Ferguson, MO. Okunsola is recognized as the first Black Certified Professional Midwife in Missouri and a 22x award winning provider and pioneer. On June 19, 2020, Okunsola led Jamaa Birth Village in opening Missouri’s 1st Black-led Midwifery clinic. Okunsola’s Community Doula Training led St. Louis in closing the doula disparity gap, from 10-Black practicing doulas in 2015 to having trained and certified 460 doulas in 8-years.
Presentations from Facing Race 2024
History of Black Midwifery: How Colonialism, Race & Capitalism Impacted Home Birth in Black Communities
An effective, long-standing tradition of midwifery steeply declined after 1910, when the Flexner Report recommended that women deliver their babies in hospitals and midwifery be abolished, making the case that all medical practitioners should have standardized training. But because medical education was rife with racial inequities, this transition away from midwifery had a particular adverse effect on Black mothers and babies. Join Jamaa Birth Village founder Okunsola M. Amadou as she presents a historical overview, shares the organization’s work of training people to serve as midwives and doulas, transforming Black Maternal Health in St. Louis and Missouri over the course of 10 years.
Speakers: Okunsola M. Amadou, N/A