Birth in the Tradition

02/25/2026

🌿 “I Been Catchin’ Babies Since Before You Was Thought Of”

A 1930s Georgia Granny Midwife Speaks

Now chile… you ask me how long I been doin’ this work?

Long enough that the red clay done worked its way into the lines of my hands.
Long enough that I don’t count the babies no more — I count the families.

I wasn’t born callin’ myself no “professional.”
We didn’t use them words back then.
I was just Mary’s daughter.
Then I was somebody’s wife.
Then one night, the knock come on the door.

“Miss Liza, Mama say come quick.”

That’s how it start most times.
A knock.
A whisper.
A lantern swingin’ in the dark.

First baby I ever caught, my own granny stood behind me.
She say, “Don’t you rush what the Lord done designed slow.”

I ain’t forgot that.

I carried my black bag — leather worn soft as butter.
Inside? Clean cloths. String for the cord. Scissors I boiled clean.
Some camphor. Some herbs. A little oil.
And prayer. Don’t forget prayer.

Folks think birth loud and wild.
Sometimes it is.
But most times, it’s quiet work.

I step in that house, and I don’t bring fear with me.
I bring calm.

I wash my hands good.
I lay my cloth down.
I put my hand on that mama’s belly.

“Baby head down,” I might say.
Or sometimes, I turn that baby myself — slow and steady.
Hands don’t lie if you listen close.

We ain’t had machines hummin’ and beepin’.
We had ears.
We had patience.
We had time.

County nurse come round once a month, make sure we keepin’ records neat.
I signed my name in that book best I could.
They say we had to take a exam down at the courthouse.
I passed it too. Don’t let nobody tell you we ain’t know what we was doin’.

I caught white babies and colored babies.
Poor babies and farm babies.
Babies born in big houses and babies born in shacks with wind comin’ through the boards.

Didn’t matter none.

When that baby cried,
everybody equal.

You see, what folks don’t understand is —
this work ain’t just catchin’ babies.

It’s watchin’ over mothers.
It’s sittin’ by the bed through the night when labor long.
It’s rubbin’ backs.
It’s boilin’ water.
It’s sendin’ men outside so women can do women’s work in peace.

I seen doctors start sayin’ hospital the only safe place.
Maybe for some.
But I tell you this —

I buried fewer mothers than folks think.

Most times, when you leave nature alone and tend it proper,
it knows what to do.

Now you say there’s midwives comin’ back in Georgia?
Women wantin’ babies at home again?

Mmm.

That don’t surprise me.

Some knowledge don’t die.
It just waits.

If you out there doin’ this work now,
you ain’t startin’ somethin’ new.

You continuin’ somethin’ old.

And every time you kneel beside a laborin’ woman,
somewhere a Granny like me smile and say —

“Go on now. Catch that baby steady.”

12/19/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19iBq87bco/?mibextid=wwXIfr

12/17/2025

She never called herself a hero.
But for thousands of Black families in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Maude E. Callen was the reason life began—and continued.

She delivered between six hundred and eight hundred babies with her own hands.
She crossed muddy roads and dark nights to reach people no one else would.
And she did it for more than sixty years—without applause, without ease, without turning anyone away.

Maude E. Callen was born in 1898, one of thirteen sisters, in Florida. By the age of six, both of her parents were gone. Orphaned, she was taken in by her uncle, Dr. William J. Gunn, a physician in Tallahassee. In his home, Maude learned early that healing was not just a profession—it was a calling.

She carried that calling with her.

In 1922, she graduated from Florida A & M University, then completed her nursing training at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. A year later, in 1923, she moved to Pineville, South Carolina, a rural place where poverty was deep, hospitals were far, and Black lives were routinely neglected.

At the time, there were only nine nurse-midwives serving the entire area.

Maude Callen became one of them—and soon, one of the most essential.

She ran a community clinic out of her own home, miles from the nearest hospital, serving a 400-square-mile region “veined with muddy roads.” Roads that flooded. Roads that trapped wagons. Roads she traveled anyway—on foot, by car, by sheer determination.

To her patients, she was everything.

A doctor when no doctor would come.
A dietician when hunger shaped disease.
A psychologist when grief had nowhere to go.
A bail-goer when injustice locked people away.
A friend when the world felt unbearable.

She cared for the elderly, the dying, the forgotten. She sat with mothers in labor through the night. She delivered babies by lamplight. She stayed long after the cries stopped, making sure both mother and child survived.

And she didn’t just deliver life—
she taught it.

Maude Callen trained women in her community to become midwives themselves, passing on knowledge so care would not disappear when she wasn’t there. She taught women how to nurture families, how to protect health, how to survive in a system that offered them little support.

In December 1951, the nation finally looked her way.

Life magazine published a twelve-page photographic essay of her work, captured by famed photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, who spent weeks following her—watching her work, watching her walk roads most Americans never had to imagine. The images were haunting. Honest. Unforgettable. They revealed not only poverty—but power. Not only struggle—but grace.

Still, Maude Callen never sought recognition.

Over her lifetime, she received numerous honors, including the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award in 1984, recognizing sixty years of service to her community. Yet even then, she kept working—voluntarily, quietly, faithfully.

She continued caring for others until her death in 1990.

Maude E. Callen did not change the world from a podium.
She changed it one birth at a time.
One muddy road at a time.
One life at a time.

Her legacy lives in the hundreds of children she helped into this world—and the generations that followed them.

This is Black history.
Not loud.
Not flashy.
But lifesaving, foundational, and holy.

And Maude E. Callen deserves to be remembered.

11/27/2025

The legislation seeks to stop Black women from suffering during and after childbirth and hold hospitals accountable according to bill language obtained exclusively by NBC News.
nbcnews.app.link/QsNz51kuAYb

11/22/2025

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11/15/2025

11/15/2025

Preregister for the hike and in order to have lunch and receive a Kenyan basket filled with prenatal goodies!

Hey there! Join us for Prenatally Yours; Intentionality and Mindfulness, where we'll explore ways to connect with your baby even before birt

11/12/2025

Birth in the Tradition is honored and excited to host Shafia Monroe on December 7, 2025 for her Book Review "Mothering the Mother, African American Postpartum Traditions, Recipes and Healing" and Talk Back. This ancestral and sacred shared knowledge is being Sponsored by Georgia Black Doula Network, Inc., Mamas Mater and .
Mama Shafia is my comrade in Maternal Care. She Is a Library of wealthy information that you don't want to miss out on hearing in person.
She will read excerpts from her upcoming book and engage in Q & A's from her audience. Come on time to mingle and network with other like minds while enjoying deserts and fruits from the bar! Seats are limited, so register on the Eventbrite Link to secure your seat. Click on the QR code to Pre-Order your book which will be released in January.
https://www.eventbrite.com/.../an-evening-with-mama...
https://birthworkmastery.wixsite.com/shafia-monroe

11/12/2025

Preregister and come join Maternal Wellness Hikers and our Guest Hiking presenters, SHINE as we lead you on a hike and an interactive activity surely to satisfy your prenatal and maternal needs. Yes, we are talking about being mindfully aware of our health and fitness and taking accountability for what we know. SHINE is prepare to tech you a thing or too about prenatal Self Care and not only that, we are going to feed you a healthy lunch meal and and and and, you will go home with your personal Kenyan basket filled with prenatal tools for self monitoring. The first 20 expecting mothers to register and attend will receive food for thought and thoughts for food!!! Register here and we'll see you Sunday. the weather is promising to be warmer and what a favorable way to start the week. Wear your hiking shoes ad boots and let's goooooo.
https://www.eventbrite.com/.../prenatally-yours...

11/05/2025

“Mothering the Mother:African American Postpartum Traditions, Recipes and Healing,” gives the simple things, the natural things, the spiritual things and the cultural things to help new mom achieve a full postpartum recovery, because she deserves it. You find the book helpful for the three areas of traditions, recipes and healing You can preorder now on Amazon by typing in the title and Shafia Monroe’s name. Be the first to have it early February 2026. Book release date is January 27, 2026.
Mama Shafia Monroe is coming to Atlanta Dec. 5th, 6th and 7th ‘25 for her SM Full Circle Doula Training. That’s exciting! What’s more excitement is that Birth in the Tradition is hosting a Book Reading and Review for Shafia Monroe (and you) the evening of Dec. 7th ‘25! Mark your calendars & Save the Date! More details forthcoming!