Kevin Gates, a popular rapper, shared a video on his Instagram story showing a woman giving birth while being helped by a midwife and her husband. In the video, the woman can be seen pushing out her baby's head from her private part while standing up. It has been revealed that the woman is Kendra Johnson, who gave birth three months ago. Her childbirth journey was shared on Instagram by IndieBirth.
IndieBirth shared Kendra's birth video in celebration of Black Maternal Health Week. In the video, Kendra offers wisdom from her amazing birth experience and highlights the need to bring joy and autonomy back to birth. She believes that childbirth is a rite of passage that should be a joyous and empowering occasion for all women. Unfortunately, obstetrics has marginalized Black and minority women since its origin, and evidence shows that black women are significantly more likely to die due to childbirth and pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts.
Kendra believes that it is easy to be convinced that biology is to blame for the heightened chances of an unfavorable pregnancy outcome without questioning it. By doing so, we relinquish control to a system that was not established to serve minorities but to use them as a catalyst to further their own agenda. When we overlook our own ancestral knowledge that far outdates any healthcare system, modern medicine becomes the hero.
Kendra argues that hospitals and doctors are not evil, but a system built on control cannot truly hold space for women and their intuitive power to birth their babies. Until women take ownership of their own births, they will continue to fall victim to the decisions of those around them. She urges women to no longer outsource their pregnancy and birth experience, but to recognize their own strength, capabilities, and power. The birth stories of our lineage live within our bones, and if the world is not willing to hear our voices, we need to be willing to hear our own.
VIDEO HERE:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrEGh0mgiIJ/