At the head of the mother is a doula, an educator invested in motherhood. At the womb is Toni Hill.
Hill, owner of Blooming Moon Midwifery in Tupelo, is a Black, certified traditional midwife. She wears other titles: doula, doula trainer, lactation consultant. A midwife, though, better executes her vision: community-based care for people with periods.
To understand Hill’s work is to understand inequity, especially in Mississippi, a state where Black women face even bigger obstacles to medical care. Hill’s career asks not only who is worthy of life, but who is worthy of life-giving care.