African Birth Collective

A Sénégalese mom after her birth.

Kara after a birth.

Lulu Organics is donating 100 bars of our new Lavender & Oatmeal soap to the African Birth Collective in Sénégal, West Africa and sponsoring our oldest and dearest friend birthing doula and midwife-in-training Kara Engelbrecht. She is looking to raise money & supplies for this amazing cause, please take a moment and see if you can help.

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A letter from Kara:

As many of you know, a year ago hung up my doula shoes and started apprenticing with Nancy Myrick and Ami Burnham from Rites of Passage Midwifery. It took years for me to come to this place, always teetering on the edge. With the support of Jon and Michelle, as well as all the families I had worked with over the previous six years, midwifery came calling, oddly at Rainbow Grocery one night, and I took up the task. So now I am enrolled with the National College of Midwifery and apprenticing full time.

As I immerse myself in midwifery I realize that though I knew it would be vast, I did not know how deep in my belly I would have to go. Everyday I get more excited to learn and at every birth I see something in a way I didn't see it before. So to add dimension to my education I will be traveling to Senegal with the African Birth Collective in November. Here I will be working in a birth center along side two other apprentices, a preceptor, one sage femme and three matrones.

I am preparing for this in many ways. Julia, my travel partner, and I have marathon study sessions, trying to get all the classes done that will support us in Africa. I expect to be at fourteen births between now and November. At each birth I vow to try one more new thing. I am also relying heavily on my friends with good veins for some IV experience. I plan on taking not one, but two, neonatal resuscitation classes before I leave.

Not only is there a lot to learn before I go, there is a lot to collect. We will be stocking the clinic with medical supplies as well as mama/baby packs to send home with every mother. This means that I am collecting newborn sized onesies, socks, hats and blankets for the babies, tooth paste, tooth brushes and pens for mamas. If you have any extra of any of these, please drop them at my home. I am also accepting money! This will cost about $4000 all together, including transportation, tuition, medications, and supplies. Anything beyond that will go into the clinic itself. The last group was able to have the bathroom and floors tiled as well as screens made for the windows in the postpartum room. I would love to be able to leave knowing that we were able to make a lasting difference. My Paypal account is under my email address, kara@serpentine.com and my home address is 2543 Bryant, 94110.

This feels like a very significant time for me. I know how important community is. Now I feel like I am connecting with midwifery around the world.

Thanks everyone for everything.
Warmly, Kara
African Birth Collective