Transforming Maternal Healthcare with Latham Thomas
When we solve the problem for the most marginalized, we make the world a better place for everyone. This is the critical point I took away from my conversation with Latham Thomas, the incredible visionary behind Mama Glow, a maternity lifestyle brand committed to supporting women along the childbearing spectrum.
A personal journey to doula work.
As a Western-trained MD with South Asian roots, I was particularly interested in listening to Latham recount her journey toward her calling as a doula. She shared her childhood memories of experiencing the mutual support by the women in her family whenever someone was pregnant. She also recounted how later in life, as she navigated her own pregnancy, that same community of women nurtured and supported her during the birth of her child. I too experienced that support when pregnant with my children. My mother, sister, and aunts surrounded me, guiding me through every step of the way.
What Latham shares though, is that many of the most marginalized women in our world do not have this same support. She believes deeply, through her own lived experience and seeing the statistical disparity in mortality rates, healthy babies, and post-partum satisfaction, that black women do not have this same support and need more access to this type of care. Hence, the need for Mama Glow.
Critiquing Western medicine’s approach to pregnancy.
In our conversation, we discussed how Western medicine has turned pregnancy into pathology, requiring clinical practice with high risks and unpredictability, versus a ritual and rite of passage our bodies know and understand. In this medical construct, a birthing person’s wishes are slowly stripped away, procedure after procedure, intervention after intervention. Latham shared how Mama Glow helps bring back some of the birthing person’s power by offering holistic care to mothers through doulas, coaching, lifestyle training, and other various resources.
She also explained the differences between doulas and midwives, and how they work together to help a birthing person. Doulas are non-clinical care providers who offer emotional and physical support, advocacy tools, and partner support if desired or needed. They're what one of Latham’s clients calls a “producer for the birth” because doulas are thinking about how a birthing person needs support on the journey, giving both information and a non-judgemental presence of support. This is different from a midwife, who is a clinical care provider who does everything from wellness care to delivering the baby. They can provide loss support, as well as menopause support during the transition out of reproductive life. Midwives are trained to approach pregnancy without a lot of high-tech procedures, though they do integrate medical interventions as needed in some instances.
Doula and midwives are partners in maternal care.
The doula-midwifery model centers around the birthing person and family, whereas the clinical model focuses more on the physician and what they believe is right. Black women and women of color, and any birthing people in general, need access to this family-centric type of care. They need to be held and cared for in the same way Latham and I experienced our mothers, sisters, and aunts caring for us. When we look for solutions for black women, paying attention to what they need and advocating toward that end, we make things better for all birthing people. Tune into this beautiful conversation to hear more about what Latham Thomas has to share about transforming maternal healthcare.
Connect with Latham
Instagram: @Glowmaven / @MamaGlow / @MamaGlowFoundation
Website: mamaglow.com
Resources: Mental Health Pocket Guide /Birthing While Black
Be well,
Avanti Kumar-Singh, MD
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