VOICES OF THE WOMB

Rue Ajayi shares her story in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. She is a mom of three girls, a full spectrum doula, and a new UC Berkeley MPH graduate. Rue talks about living with hyperemesis gravidarum through every pregnancy and losing a pregnancy during the pandemic, when she had to go through it alone. She walks us through her first birth, where she kept saying something was wrong and no one listened. She shares how an investigation finally confirmed it was not her fault, and how her second and third births became her healing births. Rue talks about why she became a doula, the power of being seen, and her vision for a Black birthing world built on safety and acceptance. Through it all, she carries her grandmother’s words: remember me.

This conversation is led by DESTAS’s very own Chloe Hood, MPH.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of miscarriage, traumatic birth, a NICU stay, postpartum anxiety, and racism in maternal care. Please take care while listening.

Ep 1: The Beloved Midwife

Jyesha Wren, CNM, opens Voices of the Womb with a conversation that goes far beyond the delivery room. Jyesha traces how her own personal history shaped her path into midwifery, breaks down the real crisis in maternal health, and explains what a midwife does — and why the role is so often misunderstood. She talks through Beloved Birth's community-centered model of care, the power of Centering Pregnancy and group prenatal visits, and why postpartum support doesn't end at delivery. Jyesha also opens up about her own birth experience, the reality of pain in childbirth, and how power dynamics show up in birth for Black women specifically.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of childbirth, pain, and maternal health disparities. Please take care while listening.