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What happens when a community discovers its infant mortality rate is more than four times the national average? For Resha Clinton, it became a call to action that transformed her life and the lives of countless mothers and babies in Cleveland, Ohio.

This eye-opening conversation explores the critical difference between midwives and perinatal support doulas. While midwives focus on medical aspects of birth, doulas like Resha provide the emotional support that research shows dramatically impacts birth outcomes. She shares powerful insights into how stress, anxiety, and depression during pregnancy directly affect developing babies and how doulas help mothers navigate these challenges.

The statistics are shocking: Cuyahoga County once had an infant mortality rate of 8.1 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to the national rate of 0.2. But through dedicated community intervention, those numbers are finally improving. Resha details how her organization Birth and Beautiful Communities responds to this crisis by advocating for Black mothers in medical settings where their pain is often dismissed.

Perhaps most fascinating is Resha's holistic approach combining doula work with energy healing and sound therapy. Understanding that we are ”threefold beings” of mind, body, and spirit, she addresses not just physical needs but emotional and spiritual wellbeing. She passionately debunks breastfeeding myths and explains how breast milk provides irreplaceable immune benefits that formula can never replicate.

Want to learn how emotional wellbeing during pregnancy impacts both mother and child? Ready to understand why advocacy in the delivery room can be a matter of life and death? This conversation will transform your understanding of maternal health disparities and the powerful role doulas play in addressing them.

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