Hidden Gems: Meet Atabia Williams of Womanist Williams Birth Support

Today we’d like to introduce you to Atabia Williams.

Hi Atabia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
It always stumps me when people ask, “When did you become a doula” because… for as long as I can remember, I’ve always “Doulad” somebody. A Doula is someone who provides emotional, physical, and spiritual support to a birthing person. Outside of that context, many of us have found ourselves in that capacity. Loving on a friend during a heartbreak, taking care of a loved one while they’re sick, and so on. My “journey” started when I was younger, a little girl. From the time I could walk, I tried to assist the older women in my family with their littles. From wanting to prepare bottles, changing diapers, and whatever else they needed. I took a certain level of caution even at a young age dealing with birthing folks. I felt in my soul that they needed the most care. Fast forward to my freshman year at Grand Valley State University; I went in knowing I was going to graduate with a nursing degree, become a Labor & Delivery nurse and live out my dreams there. As you could imagine those dreams changed. With more education, I learned about the racist history of medical practices, specifically on Black Women who have continuously disproportionally been affected by these systems. I took up a dual major in Women Gender & Sexuality and Public and Nonprofit Administration with an Emphasis in Community Health. I combined both majors to better understand how certain folk and organizations take up space in the community. Graduation came quicker than I knew, which meant I needed to find an internship for both majors. Knowing all I knew, I wanted to find something that spoke to me and who I was as a person. After weeks of searching and searching, I ended up stumbling across Kiara Baskin’s Facebook page who is the Program Manager of Day One Doula Collective housed right in Grand Rapids 3rd Ward at Baxter Community Center. She was looking for an Intern with all of my credentials… coincidence? We immediately clicked, and I joined in assisting her with various tasks for the first cohort of Doulas. Through this experience, I was able to meet other like-minded black and brown folks who all just knew without needing to further explain. Long after the technical terms of my internship ended, I still assisted Kiara Baskin in all things Doula-related because I knew that’s where I wanted to be. Working to learn as much as I can to get the most experience, I was soon cleared to support births as a doula. Shortly after, Womanist Williams Birth Support Services was born.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In just about anything you do in life, you’ll find some challenges and bumps in your journey. I tell people all the time that I’m doing “the Lord’s work.” When you do what you’re called to do it makes the journey a little easier because your steps have already been aligned for you. Systemically yes, of course, there’s been struggle. It has been statistically proven that the work Doulas do significantly better the outcomes for Black Maternal Health, yet there are few structures set in place for us to do the work. I’ve been blessed to make it this far with my amazing support system, community is how we get through things. My best friend (Jasmine Wilson), mentor (Kiara Baskin), my boss (Sonja Forte), and my close birth worker family have all made sure I have had continuous support throughout every step of my journey.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about Womanist Williams Birth Support?
Womanist Williams Birth Support Services was founded to aid black women in providing spiritual, physical, and emotional support during prenatal, labor & delivery, and postnatal periods of pregnancy. Serving the Greater Grand Rapids areas. Womanist Williams specializes in providing evidence-based, unbiased support to each client. We do not make decisions for clients, or persuade clients to make a specific decision, instead; we provide numerous credible resources and support to allow for full bodily autonomy to be given. We want people to know that Womanist Williams Birth Support Services is more than a business; it’s a passion. With a doula, a client is able to get 1 on 1 care, immediate access to information and support, and an additional person to add to their support team. We pride ourselves on quality care and comfort above anything else. A Doula is a birth coach! Here, we help advocate for what you want, not what will make anyone else satisfied.

What’s next?
Long term, I would like to open up a birthing center for black and brown birthing trans folk. In the center, I plan to have Birth Workers, Herbalists, Root Workers, and other specialists who are already doing the work in community. As of now, I plan to continue to follow the needs of my community and provide services for those who are dying 3x-4x higher than their white counterparts. For continuous community events, I help coordinate our Bumps & Babes which is a Community Baby shower hosted by Day One Doula Collective. Day One Doula Collective also has other community events, such as a Community Breastfeeding Educator course, Zulu Belly Binding, and more to come soon. I’m looking forward to continuing to serve my community, whether that is through Womanist Williams Birth Support Services as a birth worker or through my professional job as an Administrative Coordinator at Baxter Community Center.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/womanist.williams?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081130161432&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Womanist Williams Birth Support
Day One Doula Collective