BLA Postpartum Doula
BLA Postpartum DoulaMars Lord11th November 2020Why did you want to become a Doula? I wanted to become a Doula, I felt like it was my calling. My previous employment roles were in residential children homes, young offender’s institution and homeless supporting housing....
BLA (Black Lives Abuela) Scholarship Fund
The BLA (Black Lives Abuela) Scholarship Mars Lord 15th July 2020 Fund to date:£12,689.72collectedRAISED IN 43 DAYSWe need more Black birthworkers. Black women are at greater risk during the perinatal period. They are five times more likely to die than their white...
Where’s your knee?
Where's your knee? Mars Lord 8th June 2020 Well what a heavy past couple of weeks.We’ve seen the world begin to crack open their eyes again at the reality that is racism. Hard for some to see, and so they deliberately turned away, citing busyness, a need to withdraw...
The Voices Are Rising
The Voices Are Rising Mars Lord 2nd March 2020 For the past few years, the volume has been rising on the conversation about Black maternal mortality. This is a good thing. Of course, what comes with the rising of the voices is the arrival of new voices that feel that...
MBRRACE 2019
MBRRACE 2019 Mars Lord 17th December 2019 So, the MBRRACE report was finally released after being put in ‘purdah’ (a problematic phrase - think appropriation) and having an embargo on the results. What we’ve learned is that things are not improving for Black women and...
Kindness
Be KindMars Lord24th November 2019''It’s been a funny few weeks. Sadly none of it left me laughing. I’ve been wanting to put my thoughts down for the longest time, but it keeps making my heart feel heavy. However, the need to keep the conversation going is important....
MBRRACE 2019 embargo
Waiting In Anticipation Mars Lord 20th November 2019 It’s about this time of year that the MBRRACE study is released. The last one brought the shocking statistic that with the relatively rare cases of maternal mortality, black women are five times more at risk than...
Black Maternal Health Week
Black Maternal Health Week Mars Lord 24th April 2019 Today is my 52nd birthday. My godmother called me today to wish me a happy birthday. In the middle of our conversation she told me how her daughter, my god sister, nearly died when she gave birth two years ago....
Reproductive Justice Retreat 2018
Reproductive Justice Retreat 2018 Mars Lord 29th November 2018 Devon in the winter probably isn’t everyone’s idea of a long weekend away, but that’s where eighteen women found themselves on 22nd November 2018. We arrived to a beautiful set of cottages in Witheridge....
Cultural Competency in the Birth World
Cultural Competency In The Birth World Mars Lord 6th September 2018 One of the problems with talking about cultural competency, is that the studies aren't quite there yet. A problem that we have when we talk about cultural competency in the UK is that people within...
Pregnancy, Motherhood, Village
Pregnancy, Motherhood and Village Mars Lord 4th July 2018 I'd like us to look for a moment at Pregnancy, Motherhood and the Village way. I don't know how many of you are aware of this but black women are 3-4 times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. The...
Join the Conversation with Kimberly Seals Allers
In Conversation with Kimberly Seals Allers Mars Lord 17th June 2018 It’s been a fabulous week. First I ran my Abuela Doulas Preparation Course with 7 fantastic women whose ethnic origins ranged from Uganda to Cuba, Jamaica to Cote d’Ivoire. As you can imagine, it was...
Erica Garner – Say her name
Erica Garner - Say her name Mars Lord 31st December 2017 What a way to end 2017. With the death of another beautiful black woman. An activist. A woman who shouted out her father’s dying words ‘I can’t breathe’. A young mother of two, one a baby born just a few short...
Reclaiming my Weekend
Reclaiming my weekend Mars Lord 21st November 2017 Today is Sunday and the Wife and I (my best birth buddy and one of my closest friends) took the decision a month or so ago, NOT to work on Sundays. So when I told her that I still had to keep up the November challenge...
Black Erasure
Black Erasure Mars Lord 13th November 2017 I'm trying so hard not to be or not to feel continually angry with the birth world. I'm so over #birthsowhite. In some Facebook groups we've been encouraged to share and publicise the 'Birth Time' trailer and crowd fund to...
It’s been a busy summer
Nyumbani kwa Mama - Mother's Home Mars Lord 5th November 2017 I have had a busy summer working with clients, supporting mentees and creating an eCourse, 'Is Doulaing Your Bag?' which is an introduction to doulaing. During this time I've also been talking to different...
Baby Loss
Baby Loss Awareness Mars Lord 15th October 2017 I spent Saturday evening at the Bath House Hotel in Worcester at an awards ceremony. The Butterfly Awards. It seems strange to say that I was at a ceremony giving awards to people who work and campaign around baby loss....
Reclaiming my time
Reclaiming My Time Mars Lord 5th August 2017 I love Wimbledon season. I slow myself down and I enjoy the tennis. Loved that Federer won, though had Nadal and my girl Venus won, I would have been in heaven. Then I found myself busy working...
Wilful blindness
Wilful Blindness Mars Lord 10th July 2017 I had a day of it a few days ago. First there was the woman who, when I sat next to her on the tube, clutched her bag tightly to herself, before picking up her second bag and clutching that even more tightly...
My Pregnant Belly
My Pregnant Belly Mars Lord 3rd July 2017 As the weather keeps improving and giving us those wondrous sunny days, my mind flicks back to being pregnant in the summer of '98. I was so hot. My third baby was growing inside me and I could hardly bear to leave the house....
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