Today you’ll hear a story shared by Amayra, a Black woman living in NYC who initially planned to give birth at home due to her knowledge about the poor outcomes for Black birthing folks in hospitals. Things took an unexpected turn when she learned her baby had a cleft diagnosis so that she needed to switch to a hospital birth attended by midwives. Amayra shares how she intentionally chose Black care providers not only for her birth support team, including her doula, but also as she selected a surgeon during pregnancy to correct the cleft soon after birth. Amayra also provides a bunch of excellent tips for expectant and new parents toward the end, too, so be sure to listen to the whole episode.