Christina Elmore Describes 'Powerful' Difference in Having Home Birth with All-Black Midwife Team

Benjamin VanHoose
·2 min read
Christina Elmore attends HBO's Final Season Premiere Of "Insecure" on October 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
Christina Elmore attends HBO's Final Season Premiere Of "Insecure" on October 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
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Frazer Harrison/FilmMagic

Christina Elmore is explaining the difference it made having an all-Black care team when giving birth to her second baby.

The actress, who plays new mom Condola on HBO's Insecure, welcomed her second baby, a son, in January, this time opting for the specific midwifery team after having an all-white care team for her first experience with her son, who is now 4½ years old.

In an essay for Women's Health, Elmore writes that she had "amazing" care before, but "thought it would be so powerful to make a change" for the arrival of her second baby.

"I thought a lot about how I wanted this birth to be different. I didn't want to fall back on the same decisions just because it's what I did with my first child," says Elmore. "I tried to think of this new life as being all his own. How was he going to come into a world that was at the height of the racial reckoning in this country?"

There was "such a difference in my holistic care," she shares. "This was a group of women who just heard me. I didn't expect to have that in the medical field — it felt so unique and special."

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About her home birth, Elmore writes, "Both of my midwives were there, and I had a wonderful Black birth photographer, along with my lovely husband, who is white. I felt so supported. Labor is hard for everyone, but I knew that I could focus on that and they would be attuned to my needs."

"I was lucky that my first birth had that too," continues the mom of two, "but this time, I was looking across a room that resembled me. These women looked like my mom and my aunties. I felt safe."

Elmore says she wants people preparing to give birth to "understand that we have options around birth."

"There's no wrong way. I hope that other women are able to feel empowered as possible, and listened to and valued as I did. Because we all deserve that," she adds.