Destiny Muhammad

 

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” 

 
 

I work with families during pregnancy, birth/labor and delivery, and post-outcome (postpartum). I advocate for choice and remind parent(s) of their birth rights.

I was holding my phone and a notification appeared on my screen. I exited out of it and the screensaver took over view. It was a silhouette of an expecting mother with her child in her womb with the galaxy roaming through their bodies and throughout the universe. 

The sister sitting next to me asked if I was doula. I responded with, “A do what?” She said, “You have the spirit of a doula. You should look into it. It’s in alignment with the work you’re already doing with women.” She followed that with a brief description of what a doula does. After departing from her, I researched the role of a doula and could not stop looking into birthwork. This is where my doula journey began. Her words to me was not a question. It was an instruction from Allah (God) telling me what to do.

Two years later, after serving a mother during her birth, I made a visit to my great-aunt. While sitting on her porch, she said, “You think you’re smart, huh?”. I had no idea where her sarcasm was coming from. She stepped into her home and came back outside with mini booklets. Then she asked, “Do you know what this is?” I said, “They look like birth record books.” She said, “Do you know whose they are? They belong to your great-great grandmother. Her and her mom were midwives.” I’m sitting there shocked wondering why no one told me about the history of my great-great-great grandmother and great-great grandmother being midwives.

That confirmed and heightened the priority of my doula journey. I hadn’t known much about my grandmothers. I think it was for me to begin this path on my own without a hint of being being forced, but more-so of a chosen journi. Being a birthworker is in my DNA—it runs deep in my soul.