About The Panelists
Name: Dr. Laurena White,
Titles: MD, Ob-Gyn, MPH, LAc
Organization: The Eudaimonia Center
With over 20 years of service and experience in the field of women’s health ranging from labor supports doula to obstetrics/gynecology and reproductive endocrinology/infertility including acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, Dr. Laurena White is a positive disruptor. As the clinical director of The Eudaimonia Center, an integrative reproductive medicine and women’s health firm, she leads a team that facilitates the health, wellness, and healing of complex women’s health challenges including but not limited to uterine fibroids, endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and fertility challenges without the use of unnecessary pharmaceutical drugs (including synthetic hormones) and fruitlessly invasive surgical interventions. In a country whose healthcare system falls woefully short of addressing the comprehensive needs of “the least of these”, namely Black women and their children, Dr. White aims to revolutionize the industry one healing experience at a time by being fertile ground in a barren land. She has reimagined what comprehensive women’s healthcare could and should be. As a result, she integrated her practice by forming a synergistic flow between conventional medicine and traditional healing modalities so the care women receive is not only transformative, it’s also restorative.
Name: Aisha Ralph
Title: Certified Professional Midwife
Organization: Tawaret Midwifery
Aisha Ralph is a Texas licensed, Certified Professional Midwife, childbirth educator, physiologic birth and lactation advocate, who is committed to the ancient art of being “with woman” throughout the childbearing cycle. She strongly believes in women’s and birthing people’s innate ability to give birth their way, safely and with strength, and has supported over 150 births in the US, Bermuda and Uganda. Aisha is committed to using both her knowledge and experience to positively impact the maternal health of Black birthing people in particular, for whom maternal health disparities in this country are shamefully high.
Originally from Antigua & Barbuda in the Caribbean, she began her midwifery career in El Paso and Austin, Texas before relocating to Jackson, Mississippi in 2022 where she currently provides midwifery, monitrice, and wellness services and childbirth education workshops through her midwifery practice Taweret Midwifery LLC. To connect with Aisha check her out on social media @taweretmidwifery or visit the website: taweretmidwifery.com
Name: Denise L. Washington,
Titles: Doula, Midwife
Organization: Delivering Unto You (and Sister Doula with Black Mamas ATX)
Denise L. Washington is a doula, mother, student midwife and Founder of Delivering Unto You. She is originally from Kansas City, KS and has been in the Austin area for 12 years. Denise began her journey in 2001 as a doula and childbirth educator for a local pregnancy shelter for young women in Kansas City, KS. In 2010 she decided to become a midwife but took time off to adjust to her new city of Austin, TX. In 2015 she started providing doula services in Austin as a volunteer doula with GALS (Giving Austin Labor Support) until she became a program coordinator for Mama Sana Vibrant Woman in 2017. In 2019 she decided to focus on providing support to families of color on her own terms and founded Delivering Unto You. Her mission is to change the way the black community views and receives maternal care and support. In the Fall of 2023 Denise will become the third black midwife in Austin, TX. She is also on path to opening the first black led and operated birth center that will provide low to no cost care to families of color.
Name: Jai Fields
Title: Full Spectrum Doula
Organization: Your Journey With J
Jai (she/they) is a Black, queer, muva, educator, advocate, nature enthusiast and full spectrum doula envisioning futures and pathways forward rooted in Black imagination; while centering radical pleasure, community care and love.
Their work as a doula is to guide folks in shifting the way they think about birth, loss, sex, and wellness by replacing shame with empowerment, through education and exploration. Jai is an advocate for finding pleasure through play, and their “secret” agenda is to bring wellness to the community by creating affirming and supportive spaces for people to thrive.
www.yourjourneywithj.org
Name: Robin Johnson
Title: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Organization: Flourish Sanctuary Counseling & Coaching
Robin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with over 17 years experience in the military taking care of Soldiers. She also has experience working in the clinical field in counseling, crisis intervention, and Perinatal Mental Health Advocacy. Her specialty in her clinical work includes trauma, with an emphasis in Racialized Trauma Healing work. Robin is a ‘full spectrum social worker’. When you ask her what that title means to her, she says… “I do ALL the things”. She is able to use her passion to empower others as a therapist, professor & consultant.
After the birth of her first child in 2018, her lived experiences as a new mother lead her to Black Mamas ATX aka (BMCC), where she became a founding board member and former Secretary. She currently serves as the DEI Director at Pregnancy and Postpartum Health Alliance of Texas.. In her spare time she enjoys making memories with her babies, watching cooking shows, reading sci-fi fantasy, and adventuring with her loved ones.
Name: Dr. David Berry
Title: MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine
Organization: Texas Children’s Hospital
Dr. Berry is a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine, a branch of obstetrics that manages and treats complicated and high-risk pregnancies. He is a native Texan and moved to Austin in 1978. He graduated from the University of Texas followed by his medical training in Galveston, Ft. Worth and Houston. He was the founder of Austin Perinatal Associates in 1997 and has served the women of central Texas with complex pregnancies since that time. He is an expert in pre-eclampsia, critical care obstetrics, cancer in pregnancy and cervical cerclage, and currently is employed under Texas Children’s Hospital as they expand their footprint into central Texas.
Panel Facilitator
Name: Zari Shabazz
Title: Nursing Student
Zari Shabazz is a sophomore Nursing major at Howard University. Zari’s passion and interest for Black maternal health care has led her down the path of pursuing midwifery and doula services. Her dance background has led her into finding the functionality of the arts in all areas of the world like the healthcare field. During high school she founded an organization called Black Women’s Advocacy Group that is dedicated to advocating for Black maternal mortality and morbidity rates. During her first year at Howard University she joined Revolt Inc. and The Women’s Chamber, two community service, fem-identifying organizations built on uplifting and advocating for the Black community. She hopes to one day open her own birthing center that incorporates the arts while providing affordable and accessible birthing services for women of color.
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