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Activists Around the World: Chanel Porchia-Albert · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: This is Sammy and Samantha and welcome to stuff I
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  Speaker 1: ever told your production of iHeart Radio.
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  Speaker 2: And for today's activists around the world. We want to
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  Speaker 2: talk about the amazing works and advocacy of Chanelle Porchet Albert. So.
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  Speaker 2: Porche Albert is the founder of Ancient Song, which is
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  Speaker 2: a national birth justice organization which we're going to talk
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  Speaker 2: a little bit more about in a minute, but first
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  Speaker 2: we want to talk about her. So she is a
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  Speaker 2: doula activist, mother, and so much more so. This is
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  Speaker 2: from her site Chanell Porche dot com. Chanelle Porchie Albert
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  Speaker 2: cdcpd CLCHHC is committed to improving infant and maternal health.
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  Speaker 2: This commitment led her to create Ancient Song, a global
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  Speaker 2: birth justice organization dedicated to eradicating maternal and infant mortality
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  Speaker 2: and morbidity among Black and LATINX comunities. Chanell's passion has
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  Speaker 2: also taken around the world, including Uganda, where she served
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  Speaker 2: as a maternal health strategist, and to Ethiopia where she
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  Speaker 2: is working with the Ministry of Help to establish a
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  Speaker 2: DULA program in Addis Ababa, which is the capital of Ethiopia,
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  Speaker 2: which I just found out. So her works have caught
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  Speaker 2: the attention from many around the world, including from former
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  Speaker 2: VP Kamala Harris, who interviewed her for her work. But
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  Speaker 2: before we get into that, let's talk about what she does.
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  Speaker 2: So in an interview with nonprofit quarterly dot org, she's
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  Speaker 2: interviewed for her work and talks about the many needs
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  Speaker 2: that has to be done within maternal health. In the interview,
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  Speaker 2: she was asked how she got into this work, and
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  Speaker 2: she said this, I'm a mother of six children. My
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  Speaker 2: oldest son is fifteen. I have fourteen year olds identical
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  Speaker 2: twin daughters. I have a thirteen year old daughter, I
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  Speaker 2: have a seven year old daughter, and I have a
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  Speaker 2: six year old son. My children really laid the foundation
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  Speaker 2: for the work that I'm doing. My first son was
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  Speaker 2: born at home. I had a home birth midwife and adula,
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  Speaker 2: who were both black, and I love the way my
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  Speaker 2: midwife took the time to explain things to me and
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  Speaker 2: my family and made me feel comfortable enough to ask questions.
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  Speaker 2: Each visit was about an hour long. As a person
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  Speaker 2: who was coming into motherhood without a mother, that was
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  Speaker 2: important to me because I was seeking guidance that I
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  Speaker 2: would have gotten from my mom. Our midwife really guided
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  Speaker 2: us and affirmed us in beautiful ways, and so did
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  Speaker 2: our doula. So she goes on to explain how she
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  Speaker 2: started her doula training. So saying this, I was seven
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  Speaker 2: weeks postpardon and I took doula training. There was an
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  Speaker 2: organization that doesn't exist now called the International Center for
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  Speaker 2: Traditional Childbirthing. At the time, that was the only dula
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  Speaker 2: organization that primarily focused on dulas of African and Caribbean
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  Speaker 2: descent and indigenous dulas. Not just dulas, but midwives and
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  Speaker 2: healers of different sorts. They had a conference in Harlem
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  Speaker 2: that I attended and it was amazing. It was transformative.
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  Speaker 2: It was the first time I had been in a
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  Speaker 2: room full of women where I felt like I was
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  Speaker 2: being held. I was a mother with a young child,
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  Speaker 2: but people were mothering me at the same time. And
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  Speaker 2: just remembering that filling and I was like, wait, why
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  Speaker 2: doesn't everybody know that they have access to this? This
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  Speaker 2: should be common knowledge. So I completed my dula training
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  Speaker 2: and I started to attend births. Hi, we've had duelas
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  Speaker 2: on here before. If y'all don't remember, hah haha. And
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  Speaker 2: just in case that you don't know. She explains what
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  Speaker 2: a doula is in this interview, so she says, adula
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  Speaker 2: is someone who offers emotional and physical support as well
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  Speaker 2: as information so that mothers and birthing people can make
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  Speaker 2: informed decisions about their care. And then she expands her
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  Speaker 2: answer saying, sometimes we also act as a mediator or translator.
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  Speaker 2: For instance, duelis can help people decipher what medical terminology
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  Speaker 2: means and what their options are so the birthing person,
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  Speaker 2: their family members, or their support team can come up
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  Speaker 2: with a plan that works best for them. And I
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  Speaker 2: don't think we have talked a lot about this because
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  Speaker 2: when we talk about children, we kind of don't talk
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  Speaker 2: about the minute details or the details during birth. Oftentimes
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  Speaker 2: we talk about the complications, we talk about the injustices,
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  Speaker 2: But we should talk a little bit bit more about
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  Speaker 2: what kind of services are out there. And dulas are
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  Speaker 2: a really big asset to a lot of women out
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  Speaker 2: there who are scared or don't even know what's going
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  Speaker 2: to happen, and who don't have the support like many
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  Speaker 2: people don't, so so important her own experiences really hordess
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  Speaker 2: of having someone advocate for her. She talked about one
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  Speaker 2: of her experiences in birth where it was pretty traumatic
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  Speaker 2: for her with a lot of complications, and she was
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  Speaker 2: kind of worried about what was happening, and the doctor,
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  Speaker 2: who was a white doctor, was like, Eh, we're gonna wait,
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  Speaker 2: do these following things and let you wait at home,
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  Speaker 2: and was about to send her home, but then another
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  Speaker 2: doctor who happened to be a black woman came in
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  Speaker 2: and was absolutely not, she's gonna stay here. We're going
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  Speaker 2: to watch her to make sure that she can get
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  Speaker 2: through this complications without any problems, which we've seen this
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  Speaker 2: as of late, and that have really killed a lot
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  Speaker 2: of women. This type of practice, I've killed women by
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  Speaker 2: dismissing what they were going through. So having someone advocate
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  Speaker 2: for them, she understood firsthand how important it really was.
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  Speaker 2: Her experience and impact in the maternal health and birth
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  Speaker 2: justice world, she has really changed her trajectory and a
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  Speaker 2: lot of people's. She founded her organization in two thousand
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  Speaker 2: and eight, and a bit more about that organization from
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  Speaker 2: their site ancientsongduelist Services dot com. Ancient Song is a
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  Speaker 2: naturtional birth justice organization working to eliminate maternal and infant
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  Speaker 2: mortality and morbidity among low income black and LATINX people.
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  Speaker 2: We do this by ensuring that all pregnant, postpartum, and
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  Speaker 2: parenting people of color have access to high quality and
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  Speaker 2: holistic DULA care and services, regardless of their ability to pay.
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  Speaker 2: We provide DULA training and services, offer community education, and
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  Speaker 2: advocate for policy change to support reproductive and birth justice.
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  Speaker 2: And I don't think we've talked about that enough how
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  Speaker 2: dulas and midwives seeing it kind of came out as
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  Speaker 2: a joke for like, rich, rich white women who get
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  Speaker 2: to have access where they can have home births when
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  Speaker 2: they can do these things and have choices, as opposed
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  Speaker 2: to women who are able to seek care and only
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  Speaker 2: do the minimal or if at all, can do a
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  Speaker 2: lot of the pre birth types of care we've talked about,
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  Speaker 2: which is so important to their livelihoods and the child.
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  Speaker 2: So it is really important and I love seeing something
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  Speaker 2: like this and really the first time hearing the word
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  Speaker 2: birth justice, and A really think we should make that
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  Speaker 2: a common term, especially today, especially today. Their services include
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  Speaker 2: comprehensive DULA services, including and this is from their site Antipartum,
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  Speaker 2: which is specializing in supporting pregnant women going through a
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  Speaker 2: high risk or difficult pregnancy. We support our clients in
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  Speaker 2: a number of ways. If on bedrest, an antipartum doula
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  Speaker 2: can help, much like postpartum doulas helps a new parent,
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  Speaker 2: cooking meals, lighthouse work, helping the mother organize things for
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  Speaker 2: the new baby, navigating culturally appropriate resources, attending appointments, and
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  Speaker 2: most importantly, providing emotional and informational support and advocacy. Birth doula,
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  Speaker 2: which is ancient song. Birth doulas offer support throughout pregnancy,
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  Speaker 2: so whether you are fourteen weeks or thirty seven weeks,
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  Speaker 2: we can assist you on your path for the birth
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  Speaker 2: you want by offering emotional and physical support, counseling and
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  Speaker 2: information to make informed decisions, advocacy and non judgmental support.
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  Speaker 2: We specialize in high risk pregnancies, feedbacks, sexual abust, trauma,
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  Speaker 2: and more, embracing the whole and not just the parts,
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  Speaker 2: to offer you the surface you need to birth as
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  Speaker 2: you choose ancient song. Postpartum doulas are here to assist
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  Speaker 2: you with self care options, healing from C section, traumatic birth,
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  Speaker 2: lighthouse work, light mills, newborn care, sleep habits, infant feeding
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  Speaker 2: issues and solutions, nutritional guide, and a comforting ear as
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  Speaker 2: you transition into parent hen and also abortion and loss.
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  Speaker 2: Ancient song Doula offers non judgemental support throughout your reproductive
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  Speaker 2: health choices. Our dulas are trained to offer culturally humble
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  Speaker 2: care and resources to affirm you through your health care.
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  Speaker 2: We can attend appointments and offer aftercare as necessary and
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  Speaker 2: home love that. I love everything about that. They really
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  Speaker 2: cover every spectrum of pregnancy and loss. And and then
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  Speaker 2: like abortion, giving you informative care. And then I'll like
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  Speaker 2: helping you with choices, like letting you do your choices. Ugh,
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  Speaker 2: we love autonomy, what hellly autonomy for all? And this
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  Speaker 2: is from her twenty twenty one Vogue article. Yes, they
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  Speaker 2: featured her for her words Ancient Songs God Is start
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  Speaker 2: in two thousand and eight and portet Albert's Brooklyn home,
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  Speaker 2: where she had three kids of her own, at the
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  Speaker 2: time when it was still normal to ask what even
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  Speaker 2: is Adula Pourchet. Albert wanted to make birth supporting available
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  Speaker 2: and accessible to women who needed personalized care the most,
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  Speaker 2: and they put this. Research has found that maternal morbidity
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  Speaker 2: rates for black women are more than three times higher
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  Speaker 2: than their white counterparts, while other statistics reveal that a saddening.
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  Speaker 2: Sixty percent of deaths among black women during childbirth may
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  Speaker 2: have been avoidable, and I have a feeling these number
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  Speaker 2: has gone up most likely, and all her hard work
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  Speaker 2: and education has been something she calls rewarding. So back
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  Speaker 2: to that interview, they write, Pourchet Albert has found immense
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  Speaker 2: satisfaction in seeing someone find their full power and come
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  Speaker 2: into their full potential to just blossom, and seeing doulas
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  Speaker 2: who I've trained go on to do amazing things. They're
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  Speaker 2: doing work to center their communities and creating things like
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  Speaker 2: mutual aid. She says, these women are creating work around
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  Speaker 2: maternal health and studying to be doulas and midwives. And
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  Speaker 2: to see folks go and do this work and develop it,
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  Speaker 2: it's beautiful to me. Song has been a pivotal part
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  Speaker 2: of many famous experience, and the organization's continued success and
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  Speaker 2: expanding reach is a testament to this. Pourchet Albert's earliest
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  Speaker 2: trainings were usually attended by between three and five people.
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  Speaker 2: Now she can expect up to sixty participants in her
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  Speaker 2: monthly class. To see the children you've helped bring into
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  Speaker 2: the world. I never take that lightly for someone to
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  Speaker 2: open up to you and allow you to be in
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  Speaker 2: that space. For me, it's center's hope and center's purpose
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  Speaker 2: to know I'm doing work in a way that's meaningful.
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  Speaker 2: It is, it is so meaningful, and she's saving so
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  Speaker 2: many lives, so many lives. Her work has changed the
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  Speaker 2: course of maternity health so much, and a little explanation
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  Speaker 2: from her side says, Chanelle's groundbreaking efforts in birth and
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  Speaker 2: reproductive justice encompass research care methodologies and insteadfast focused on
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  Speaker 2: centering marginalized groups and people of color. Her work is
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  Speaker 2: rooted in human rights frame, driving transformation from birthing rooms
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  Speaker 2: and instigating institutional reforms that address implicit bias and racism
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  Speaker 2: which go a hand in annual and her work has
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  Speaker 2: brought her some comfort for the fear, and she said
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  Speaker 2: this in her nonprofit quarterly interview. I'm hopeful for the
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  Speaker 2: individuals who I know and the organizations that I know
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  Speaker 2: and have been in the field and all the things
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  Speaker 2: that are going on have been there to support communities
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  Speaker 2: in amazing ways, sometimes with little to no resources, once
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  Speaker 2: again showing how oftentimes black women just see a need
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  Speaker 2: and then take care of it. So thank you to
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  Speaker 2: Chanelle poorchet Albert and her work and we are excited
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  Speaker 2: to see the more. She's got a documentary by the way,
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  Speaker 2: I believe that they did it about her organization. Definitely
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  Speaker 2: have to put that on the list as well.
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  Speaker 3: So many things, so many thanks and incredibly important, incredibly
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  Speaker 3: and our executive producer Maya. Thank you, and thanks to
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