Devin English, PhD

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Devin English, PhD

Dr. Devin English, a researcher and and educator with the Rutgers School of Public Health shares his recent research to investigate intersectional discrimination, coping, and bio-psychosocial outcomes among adolescent Black youth. The research examines frequencies and psychological effects of daily racial discrimination experienced individual, vicariously, online, offline, and through teasing.

Dr. English earned his BA in Psychology from Macalester College and his PhD in Clinical/Community Psychology from the George Washington University. His predoctoral research was partially funded by a three-year NIDA F31 grant examining daily racial discrimination measurement and modelling its longitudinal effects on psychosocial outcomes among Black American adolescents and adults. He subsequently completed his postdoctoral research at Hunter College of the City University of New York where his research focused on examining the health effects of intersectional racial and sexual identity discrimination among Black queer men.

Catrice Harris

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Catrice Harris

Catrice Harris – doula, apprentice midwife, childbirth educator – tells us about African American midwifery history and reports on new maternal mortality statistics and the risk factors for Black and Native American women. How can we and healthcare professionals implement changes to address socioeconomic and cultural barriers that contribute to healthcare disparities in African Americans and other minority populations?

Catrice Harris is a wife, mother, and grandmother, who has been supporting families with childbirth education, labor and birth, and lactation support since 1992. Her initial lactation training was through The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and City of Houston WIC Programs. Childbirth education came next as she began teaching Lamaze classes to expectant families, birth moms, and adopting parents. In 2012, she began working as a birth and postpartum doula, becoming certified through DONA and ICEA. As a recipient of the BIRTH midwifery scholarship for a woman of color, she is now enrolled in the National College of Midwifery, with the goal of graduating as a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) this summer. She teaches parenting education classes at the Woman’s Hospital of Texas and is apprenticing with Stephanie Palacio at Bay Area Community Birth Center. She has been a previous guest on Whole Mother and she has been a cast member of the play BIRTH for several years and also a BIRTH Fair volunteer for several years. Having supported almost 300 women with the birth of their babies, and countless more with breastfeeding, she is truly grateful that this work found her!

Dawn Koufakis-Basel and Shazia Ashraf

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Dawn Koufakis-Basel and Shazia Ashraf

Dawn Koufakis-Basel is a life coach and co-author of Setting Boundaries as Women, a 14-step process for setting healthy boundaries in our lives. She is a speaker, workshop facilitator and former teacher. She offers her 8-week Setting Loving Boundaries course several times a year. Find out more at her Precipice Life Coaching website, Instagram and Facebook. She has raised two amazing young men who have graduated college and are taking steps into the next stages of their lives.

Shazia Ashraf is proud single mom to three beautiful and active boys and comes from an interfaith and interracial family. She is a chaplain in training and Operations Director for the Islamic Society of Greater Houston.

Addiction Series: LaToya Shields

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LaToya Shields, maternal mortality and morbidity, and substance use/lack of support

LaToya Shields, BSW, MPA, LCDC-I, has been in the social service field for well over 15 years. She currently holds the position of Manager of the Specialized Programs and Services Department at The Council on Recovery. Her work includes the Healthy Women Houston initiative, which is a collaborative effort that hones in on care coordination for women at risk of maternal mortality and morbidity in unique communities.

Lorissa Eichenberger

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Lorissa Eichenberger

Lorissa Eichenberger, MFT, PMH-C, associate director of The Center for Postpartum Family Health, talks about traumatic birth and supporting the mental wellness of mothers and their families. How does a mother know she needs help? How does she know she has experienced a traumatic birth? What are some of the obstacles our society tell us about mothering? And much more.

Lorissa Eichenberger received her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 2010. A self-described “birth nerd,” she began her journey into motherhood in 2008 with the birth of her first of four children. As new parents without family locally, it was a struggle for her and her husband to find resources for mental health support following a traumatic birth. So, Lorissa joined local birth/breastfeeding groups, and she subsequently attended trainings for doula and lactation support to further enhance her professional capacity as a therapist. Lorissa then chose to specialize her practice and focus her passion by supporting the mental wellness of mothers and their families in the Greater Houston area. Lorissa is a member of the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN), the Houston Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (HAMFT), and the Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (TAMFT). She is recognized by Postpartum Support International as a Certified Perinatal Mental Health Specialist (PMH-C) with advanced training and experience working with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). She periodically speaks with local moms’ groups and presents at international conferences each year on PMADs.

Rebecca L. Dekker, PhD

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Rebecca L. Dekker, PhD

Rebecca L. Dekker, PhD, RN, LCCE, is the founder and CEO of Evidence Based Birth®, and author of the bestselling book, Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered.

Dr. Dekker received her Master of Science in Nursing and her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Kentucky. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Dr. Dekker has built a strong reputation in maternal and infant health circles for her pioneering work as the founder of Evidence Based Birth. The mission of EBB is to raise the quality of childbirth care globally, by putting accurate, evidence based research into the hands of families and communities, so they can make informed, empowered choices.

Dr. Dekker serves as a peer reviewer for maternal health research journals, volunteers on the advisory boards for Improving Birth and DONA International, and has presented to a number of leading organizations in the childbirth field, including the American College of Nurse Midwives, the March of Dimes, the American Association of Birth Centers, Lamaze, and DONA International. Dr. Dekker is also a board-certified adult clinical nurse specialist (ACNS-BC), an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), and a Lamaze-Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE).

In May 2012, Dr. Dekker realized that it was very difficult for the average person to find information about evidence-based maternity care. Realizing that she had the research and writing skills to meet this need, Dr. Dekker coined the term “Evidence Based Birth®” and founded www.evidencebasedbirth.com.

Christy Salinas, Prenatal Classes in Spanish

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Christy Salinas, Prenatal Classes in Spanish

Christy Salinas is the Program Director of Blessed Beginnings Life Center at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. She received her Master of Arts in Humanities with a Certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, and is a graduate of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE) Leadership Academy. She also serves on the Houston Improvement Project (HIP) Board. Her main efforts are to collaborate with schools, pregnancy centers and other community partners to educate, empower and provide material assistance to families in need.

Addiction Series: Judy Bou Kheir

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Addiction Series: Judy Bou Kheir

Judy Bou Kheir is the founder and Executive Director of KARE, Katy Area Recovery Education. KARE is providing help connecting teens and their families all around our area to resources in our community, as well as facilitating sober social events for teens.