Reclaiming our Birthright: Lessons from Black Birthing Joy!

Naima Beckles is an educator, doula, and founding director of For Your Birth – a birth work consultancy in New York City. Soon after the birth of her first child, she chose the work of supporting expectant parents and earned certifications from DONA and Lamaze International where she currently serves as a member of the board. Naima also leads curriculum and community partnerships for Soshe Inc - a maternal health and wellness company. In addition, she is a teacher for The Institute for the Study of Birth Breath and Death where she has co-created courses for birth professionals on understanding and responding to pregnancy loss, trauma, and infant death in communities of color. A published author and media contributor, Naima lovingly stands alongside individuals navigating life’s triumphs and difficulties.

Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, five-time author, international speaker, strategist, and advocate for maternal & infant health. A former senior editor at ESSENCE and writer at FORTUNE magazine, Kimberly is a leading voice on the racial and socio-cultural complexities of birth, breastfeeding, and motherhood. She is the founder of Irth, a new "Yelp-like" app for Black and brown parents to address bias and racism in maternity and infant care. Kimberly also created Birthright, a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth that centers on positive Black birth stories as a tool in the fight for birth justice and reverses the narrative of negative statistics common in mainstream media coverage of Black maternal health. Learn more at KimberlySealsAllers.com.