The second season of Birthright, a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth, launches today with a new series of positive Black birth stories and restorative healing experiences. Birthright’s season 2 stories include an exploration of trans birth in the U.S with Kayden X Coleman, a trans dad of two; new details from actor Christina Elmore’s birth as she managed postpartum while playing Condola on Insecure; a birth experience in rural Georgia and a look inside birthing in Africa compared to the U.S., among other compelling stories.
Hosted by Kimberly Seals Allers, an award-winning journalist and author, Black maternal health tech founder, and an internationally recognized commentator on birth, breastfeeding and motherhood, Birthright counters the common narrative in mainstream media that only focuses on dire statistics, bleak headlines and deaths of Black women and birthing people.
“We must never forget our joy. Finding moments of joy is how our ancestors survived and it is our birthright. Nor can we allow the only narrative in Black maternal health to be full of woes. We are aware, but not woeful,” says Seals Allers, a former senior editor at Essence and founder of the Irth app for birthing without bias, who brings historical context and other expert voices to each birthing story. “Birthright reminds us that there are positive and joyful experiences out there and we must learn from those too.” New episodes are released weekly on Wednesdays.
Coleman and four other Birthright guests from season one were recently featured in a photo essay by Well+Good, “Joy Is A Metric,” where the Black parents reflected on how they found joy in birth and beyond.
Produced by Motor City Woman studios, a Black woman-owned audio production studio based in Detroit, season 2 also features “Restoration” episodes, where Black women and birthing people who have experienced trauma in their birth times are paired with a perinatal mental health therapist for a healing journey. The first “Restoration” of season 2 will be live streamed on the Birthright Podcast YouTube page on March 30, 2022.
Seals Allers also leads The Fund to Heal Black Birth, a national fundraising campaign to raise $50,000 to offer therapy by trained perinatal mental health professionals of color to hundreds of Black birthing people. “We may not be able to prevent all of the harm to Black birthing people in the medical industrial complex, but we can support their healing. They are owed that much. That is their birthright,” Seals Allers says.
Birthright is funded by the California Health Care Foundation and the Commonwealth Fund and is a project of Narrative Nation Inc., a Black-women owned, media and technology non-profit, based in New York City. Narrative Nation also created Irth, as in birth but without the B for bias, the first-of-its-kind review and rating app for Black and brown parents to find and leave reviews of maternity doctors and birthing hospitals. Learn more at www.BirthrightPodcast.com Learn about Irth at www.IrthApp.com. Follow @iamKSealsAllers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and @TheIrthApp on Facebook and Instagram.
Contact: Kimberly Seals Allers, (Print/Online): ksa@irthapp.com
Giselle Phelps, GJP Media Services (TV/Podcast/Streaming): giselle@gisellephelps.com
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