Shafia Monroe

About the Author

Shafia Monroe is a renowned midwife, doula trainer, author, motivational speaker, cultural competency trainer, Master of Public Health, and mother of seven. She is a subject matter expert on African American birth and postpartum traditions. In 1978, she learned about the twentieth-century African American midwife and has studied their traditions for over forty years, including herbal practices and the foods that were provided for postpartum health and wellness. Monroe has traveled internationally, interviewing and shadowing Black midwives to learn their postpartum culture and traditions firsthand. Monroe is an influencer and respected international doula trainer in the ways of the twentieth-century African American midwife. She is a subject matter expert on infant and maternal health. As a midwife veteran of forty years, she has cared for thousands of postpartum women through African American foods and traditions, helping them fully recuperate after giving birth. Her roots in rural Alabama, where her grandmother taught her food was medicine and her aunts taught her how to cook nourishing, African American southern meals, add to her authority and credibility for writing this book. Monroe’s work has been mentioned in The Portland Observer, MadameNoire, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Double Dutch, mater mea, and the American Journal of Public Health.