For me it was really important just to be another voice in the conversation to share my story.
I think initially after having my son I was nervous to share my story because I didn’t necessarily see it as a good one or as one that people would want to hear…over time I’ve learned to embrace that truth and embrace the story for what it is, even all of the parts I don’t like.
Hopefully other moms will be open to doing that too.
Erica Glaze:
Health & Childbirth Educator. Breastfeeding Peer Support Counselor.
Living Wellthy, LLC. Founder
For me, I believe that science is not enough. For me, stories are data. So the more people that will tell their story, and the more people that will listen to others tell their stories, I think that’s really when you start to see change; because as much as we need science, we also need lived experience. We need people who are living this day to day to tell us about their experience.
While her family was excited for her to join what her husband calls the “ant farm” and have a new baby, the process of birth itself was not something explicitly discussed in her family and Erica Glaze found herself funneled into a system she didn’t think to investigate before entering.
From battling unbearable indigestion to being diagnosed with Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IGR), Erica’s desire for a natural birth was piece by piece usurped from her and replaced with fear, doubt, anxiety, and an unexpected C-Section at 36 weeks–even though her diagnosis was never really explained to her.
It is this experience that lead to her creating Live Wellthy LLC.
My goal is to work with first time parents just to be able to provide them with the education and information…once you have information you can make the decisions that you think are best for your family. But when you don’t have the information; when it’s not being shared with you; you can’t navigate this healthcare system.
from “Mama Bear Awakened: Adversity to Advocacy”
Erica Glaze was born and raised in Arizona. She currently lives in South Phoenix with her husband and 2 year old son. She is a health educator and childbirth educator as well as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor for the Arizona WIC program.
Erica enjoys working with and supporting families, especially first time mothers. Although she had a traumatic birth experience with her son, she has started to heal and find the beauty in her journey. By sharing her experience, she hopes other mothers will be encouraged and not feel alone.
You can also follow Live Wellthy, LLC. on both Instagram and Facebook.
Listen to Erica’s FULL story above.
A word from the editor…
“I’ve had to grow myself in the stories I listen to because…you hear so many negative stories as a Black Woman from other Black Women….in time [though], I had to learn that–“okay, THAT’S the problem”–that we have these negative stories.
It’s not our faults that we have these stories and it’s not a shame to the mother; it’s a shame to a system that just keeps failing us…
why do these have to continue to be our narratives?
So I did create this space…for women who do survive birth…even when they don’t have the experiences they want, maybe the stories can…help us to…explore what happened.
Why are we having these experiences and what things do we need to do better–from the mouths of the women experiencing it and not just the data collectors [and] statisticians?”
Shayla Brown: Doula, Educator, Advocate, Writer, Editor
Natural Birthing and Living Blog
from "Mama Bear Awakened: Adversity to Advocacy"