EBB 364 - How to Prevent and Heal Birthworker Burnout with Doctoral Student Ihotu Ali and Grace Flannery, Certified Professional Midwife

Evidence Based Birth®

Rebecca Dekker

Pregnancy, Health & Fitness, Childbirth, Parenting, Birth, Medicine, Kids & Family, Doula, Obstetrician, Midwife

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 9 July 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Licensed community midwife Grace Flannery and doctoral student Ihotu Ali, founder of the Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing, join Dr. Rebecca Dekker for a moving conversation about burnout, boundaries, and building sustainable birth work. Together, they explore the root causes of burnout in maternity care, from systemic extraction to internalized pressure, and how the path to healing lies in slowing down, reconnecting with purpose, and redefining productivity. Ihotu and Grace share the origin of their collaboration through the Sweetwater Alliance, the transformative “One Main Thing” meditation, and their four-part framework for reclaiming balance: Seasons, Smallify, Support, and Spirit. This episode is a heartfelt invitation to anyone holding space for others while feeling the weight of burnout.

(04:27) Grace and Ihotu’s Birth Work Journey

(07:54) The Roots of Burnout in Maternity Care

(13:19) Presence, Boundaries, and the Burnout Cycle

(18:33) Symptoms and Signs of Burnout

(27:06) The “Four S’s” Framework for Sustainable Practice

(30:08) Accountability, Rest, and Seasonal Rhythms

(38:21) The “One Main Thing” Meditation Practice

(44:28) Reconnecting with Purpose and Capacity

(58:51) Final Reflections on Slowing Down and Healing

To sign up for the EBB Summer Series, visit ebbirth.com/summer!

Resources

Learn more about the Oshun Center: oshuncenter.com

Follow Ihotu on Instagram: @ihotuali

Learn more about Trillium Midwifery Care: trilliummidwives.com

Follow Grace on Instagram: @midwifegracef

For a full list of resources, including links to the free One Main Thing Meditation, visit ebbirth.com.

For more information about Evidence Based Birth® and a crash course on evidence based care, visit www.ebbirth.com. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube! Ready to learn more? Grab an EBB Podcast Listening Guide or read Dr. Dekker's book, "Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!" If you want to get involved at EBB, join our Professional membership (scholarship options available) and get on the wait list for our EBB Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the EBB Childbirth Class.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. On today's podcast, we're here to talk about the intersection of burnout, informed
0:05.5	consent, and systemic change in maternity care with Ihotu Ali and Grace Flannery.
0:14.1	Welcome to the Evidence-Based Birth Podcast. My name is Rebecca Decker, and I'm a nurse with my
0:19.3	PhD and the founder of evidence-based birth.
0:22.7	Join me each week as we work together to get evidence-based information into the hands of families and professionals around the world.
0:30.6	As a reminder, this information is not medical advice.
0:34.2	See eBbirth.com slash disclaimer for more details.
0:39.7	Hi everyone and welcome to today's episode of the Evidence-Based Birth podcast.
0:44.6	Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that our summer lecture series is officially
0:48.6	underway inside the EBB Pro membership.
0:51.5	Yesterday we held our first session, What is evidence-based care? Where we explored
0:56.2	how evidence-based care differs from routine practices, the origins of the term evidence-based
1:01.9	medicine, and how different levels of evidence influence the decisions we make in maternity care.
1:08.1	If you weren't able to join us live, the replay is available right now
1:11.3	inside the EBB Pro membership. And summer school is just getting started. We've got five more
1:16.3	live sessions coming up in July and August, covering everything from the evidence on midwives
1:21.0	and the research on different birth settings like home birth or birth centers to the evidence on
1:25.5	labor support and informed consent.
1:32.3	Session 2 is happening on Tuesday, July 15, and we'll be focusing on the evidence on maternity care providers.
1:34.0	Together, we'll talk through the roles, education, and training of different provider types.
1:38.5	We'll look at the research on the midwifery-led, obstetrician-led, and family medicine-led
1:43.2	models of maternity care.
	...

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