A Tulsa woman is honoring Black Wall Street history and her own family’s roots while giving expecting mothers the option of midwifery.
Expecting mother Jade Amos told 2 News she and her partner educated themselves on Black maternity health early on and knew they wanted a black midwife to help welcome their first baby.
“Just being a Black woman I feel like nobody else really understands you other than another Black woman,” she said.
Amos describes finding Community Midwife Owon Johnson as divine timing. Johnson, newly graduated from apprenticeship, initially worried about pursuing her dream job in Oklahoma, which has stern regulations on midwifery outside of hospitals.
“Right now, midwifery is private pay only,” Johnson said. “And so, we have to work with any and everybody’s budget because me as a midwife and doing what I know I’m supposed to do, I don’t like turning people away for money.”
A partnership between Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative and consultant Priscilla McFolling hopes to change some of those policies and bring more Black and Indigenous midwives to the area.