American Dreams Podcast | Best Practices

This last episode of American Dreams: Reproductive Justice is about the best practices for achieving healthy pregnancies and births, and that involves working together.

We spoke to Dr. Saraswathi Vedam with The Birth Place Lab, a division of the University of British Columbia. This lab conducts research and helps provide equitable access to reproductive care. As stated on their website, the lab focuses on four sections of reproductive care: person-centered measurement of equity, quality, and safety; (2) designing and implementing accountability tools and systems; (3) improving health professional education on anti-oppression, anti-racism, and cultural safety; and (4) expanding representation in the perinatal research and clinical workforce. 

We also spoke to Rosanna Davis, the President of CAL Midwives. CAL Midwives is an association of licensed midwives who provide reproductive care to patients and fight for reproductive justice in the state of California.


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American Dreams: Reproductive Justice is co-executive produced and hosted by Erika Washington, powered by Make It Work Nevada. The podcast is co-executive produced, written, and edited by Carrie Kaufman of Overthinking Media LLC. Music by Wil Black of Black Gypsy Music, with The Flobots. Artwork by Brent Holmes.

Creators & Guests

Host

Erika F. Washington

Politically savvy mama, @MIWNV Executive Director on the hunt for new adjectives, social justice & red wine in fabulous Las Vegas. *These Tweets Is Mine

Guest

Ashlee Heranz Alvarez

Ashlee is a mother of two. She had her first child in a hospital, and it was such a bad experience, she opted for at-home birth for her second child.

Designer

Brent Holmes

Brent Holmes is a creative roustabout, artist, cultural commentator, raconteur, and designer. His art has been exhibited in the Nevada museum of art, and the Marjorie Barrick Museum. You can find his writing in Desert Companion Magazine, the Believer, and Double Scoop Nevada. He can tell you stories about glittering ugly cities and dark beautiful wastelands but he would rather hear yours.

Writer

Carrie Kaufman

Carrie Kaufman is a multi-media journalist, with extensive experience in print, digital and public radio spaces. She is the producer, writer and editor of American Dreams Reproductive Justice, and the director of Overthinking Media LLC.

Editor

Carrie Kaufman

Carrie Kaufman is a multi-media journalist, with extensive experience in print, digital and public radio spaces. She is the producer, writer and editor of American Dreams Reproductive Justice, and the director of Overthinking Media LLC.

Producer

Carrie Kaufman

Columnist @NevadaCurrent. Fmr talk host @KNPRnews @wpr, writer, editor, speaker, mom to amazing twin daughters. Obsessed with learning EVERYTHING! She/Her Queer

Producer

Erika F. Washington

Guest

Jollina Simpson, MIdwife

Jollina Simpson is the mother of three, Traditional Midwife, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Doula trainer, and Childbirth Educator. In addition to serving families as a homebirth Midwife, Ms. Simpson is the founder and President of Kijiji Sisterhood, a community-based non-profit dedicated to supporting Black and Brown families birthing in Las Vegas. Ms. Simpson has her Master's Degree in Maternal Child Health Systems and served on the Nevada’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee from 2019-2022.

Guest

Libby Silva, CPM, LM

A nationally certified midwife of the Utah Birth Center

Producer

Make It Work Nevada

Make It Work Nevada fights for economic security for women, men and families across Nevada. It’s time that all of us are able to #MakeItWork.

Guest

Mary Leung, MSM, CNM

Mary Leung is a professional nurse midwife at PPC Wellness in Chicago

Guest

Rosanna Davis, LM

Policy Chair of the California Association of Licensed Midwives (CALM)

Guest

Saraswathi Vedam, RM, Phd, FACNM, Sci D

Lead Investigator of the Birth Place Lab and Professor of Midwifery, University of British Columbia

Guest

Shondra Summers Armstrong

Assemblywoman representing Assembly District 6 of Nevada

Composer

Wil Black

Wil Black is the principal of Black Gypsy Music TV......

Producer

You're Overthinking It

Overthinking Media LLC produces a Substack by @CarrieKaufman. We also produce podcasts for public media and non-profit groups on social and educational issues.

What is American Dreams Podcast ?

American Dreams is a podcast that will explore exactly what Reproductive Justice means. Reproductive Justice was an idea birthed in 1994, by 12 Black women who felt unseen by the white establishment.
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The four principles of Reproductive Justice are:
1. The right to have a child
2. The right to not have a child (which includes sterilization, which many doctors won’t do)
3. The right to have a child in a healthy environment and then raise them safely
4. The right to bodily autonomy and sexuality

These principles are repeated throughout this podcast, as well as homages to the 12 founders who “gave birth” to the Reproductive Justice movement.
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American Dreams: Reproductive Justice is executive produced and hosted by Erika Washington, powered by Make It Work Nevada. The podcast is produced, written and edited by Carrie Kaufman of Overthinking Media LLC. Music by Wil Black of Black Gypsy Music. Artwork by Brent Holmes.