Birth Stories in Color is a podcast for Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latino, and Multiracial individuals to share their birthing experiences - a space that specifically celebrates, mourns with and supports them and their transformation through birth.
Birth Stories in Color also emphasizes the role of storytelling as a way to equip future parents. Listening to real birth stories is one way to discover the expected and unexpected parts of the journey.
We realize that there are birth stories not being heard. Our hope is that all who share and listen find this platform to be a community near and far, and an invaluable resource for navigating their own journey.
Charles Johnson shared his birth story that ended in the tragic, senseless, and avoidable death of his wife, Kira Dixon Johnson. Kira was a healthy 30-year-old woman in her second pregnancy when she trusted her vetted doctor and the reputation of an accomplished hospital system to ensure safe delivery of her child and her recovery. A rushed surgical birth that nicked her bladder caused internal bleeding; she lost her life after a series of pleas for support when she showed signs of hemorrhaging. Charles describes the formula that accompanies nearly every story of a Black woman losing her life in childbirth as, “We expressed our concerns, our concerns were dismissed or delayed, and by the time they did something, it was too late.”
The attending doctor, Dr. Naim, was later found negligent by the California Medical Board. Charles was inspired to keep fighting for better care and accountability. He founded 4Kira4Moms as a force multiplier in spreading the message of systemic change in medical care. This includes better care provider training, transparency, and accountability. The disproportionate impact of maternal mortality on Black women is at the center of his legislative advocacy, better doula and midwifery support, and increased awareness and education among fathers and non-birthing parents. Charles believes that revolutionary care is that there has to be a fundamental standard of care in this country for all birthing people and doctors, midwives, whoever is performing these services, and who's getting paid for these services, their compensation needs to be tied to their ability to meet that standard period.
Charles brought their baby home without Kira. He has faced fatherhood headfirst, allowing his sons to be his guiding force. They sustain him. They are the tools in his mental health toolbox, along with consistent therapy. He works for Kira's legacy and the future of change.
27 Jul 2025
176 | Held in Community - Ivory Levert
We met Ivory and Ernest together for the first time in 2021. They shared their miscarriage and the birth journey of their daughter, Zamya. Now in 2025, Ivory shared their story without her partner’s physical presence, and we welcomed his spirit in.
A beautiful surprise of a second pregnancy between Ivory and Ernest was met with conflicting ideas about the timing and the physical and mental adjustments. A few weeks into the pregnancy, gratitude and excitement replaced Ivory’s early misgivings. Parenting a toddler while pregnant proved to be more of a challenge than Ivory anticipated. She laid the groundwork for a healthy pregnancy and prepared for a homebirth this time. Midwifery care, additional care with an obstetrician, chiropractic care, and regular massages allowed her to feel at ease as they prepared for birth.
Towards the end of the pregnancy at 34 weeks, Ernest experienced a severe headache that led them to take a trip to the emergency room. He was sent home without a diagnosis. About a week later, he experienced a catastrophic aneurysm rupture while visiting his favorite coffee shop. He was rushed to the hospital. The prognosis was difficult as the doctors could not offer answers, but they explored all of the options. In those early hours, Ivory started to see gestures of care and intention moving through her community. She was faced with holding life in her womb, raising life in her home, and the fragility of life holding on in the hospital. She held on as she was held.
Labor came. She prepared her space with affirmations, photos of her and Ernest filled the space, a friend facetimed from Ernest’s hospital room, and everyone on her birth team followed her lead. Baby Zenith was born peacefully at home.
Postpartum came with some ease as she was nurtured at home. Ivory struggled more emotionally with balancing joy and sadness. The hospital supported their family by moving Ernest to an area that would allow the baby to come with Ivory during visits. Ivory shared her experience managing care for herself, her children, and her husband. She attributes her practice of gratitude as a source of strength and community care through it all.
Ernest Levert Jr. joined the ancestors on January 8, 2025.
17 May 2024
175 | Learning Lessons Through Trauma - Javana Baptiste
Javana’s birth experience taught her some important lessons about self-advocacy and the current structure of maternal health in the United States. The gaps in education about options and the variance in how providers operate through the perinatal process led her down a road of challenges and fear.
Over thirty hours of labor started with mild, irregular contractions and pieces of her mucus plug releasing. Javana experienced irregular labor patterns that kept her home until her water broke. That shifted her mindset to watching the clock and did not feel like she her labor was intense enough to be in active labor. She attended her scheduled doctor's appointment and she was 2 cm dilated. Her doctors advised her to go to the hospital later in the day and suggested mid-afternoon. Arriving at the hospital led Javana down the cascade of interventions that started with an IV against her wishes. Labor started to feel isolating in that she felt alone and unsupported by her nursing team. Eventually, Javana accepted more interventions than she originally intended and an epidural helped her get some rest after being in labor for so long. Her most compassionate caregiver was the anesthesiologist, as he listened to her and talked her through the challenges of placing her epidural. After that the baby had some heart decelerations that concerned the care team. Javana was exhausted by the entire experience and she consented to a surgical birth.
After a challenging birth and hospital experience, Javana chose to honor herself in her motherhood with experiences of joy. She feels prepared to embark on her second birth with more knowledge and understanding of what could be.
Resources:
Tinyhood (https://www.tinyhood.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=WP_Brand_General&utm_adgroup=Tinyhood_Phrase&utm_term=tinyhoodhttps://www.tinyhood.com/&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=WP_Brand_General&utm_adgroup=Tinyhood_Phrase&utm_term=tinyhood&utm_content=Brand&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw3ZayBhDRARIsAPWzx8pBDC3elGzDi5snHo8Tzv8EbPI6TLXkeBSKIBYrmaNZYC1xb5SOl7saAt92EALw_wcB) | online parenting classes
The Birth Hour (https://thebirthhour.com/) | birth story podcast
Evidence Based Birth (https://evidencebasedbirth.com/) | online childbirth resource
All About Pregnancy & Birth Podcast (https://drnicolerankins.com/podcast/) | parenting podcast
Inside a recent episode
177 | Kira - Shared by Charles Johnson
Published 13 Apr 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] No CT scan, right? 8 o'clock, nothing. I'm continuing to look, what's going on? Where's CT scan? They're saying, oh, we got to see. We might take her back for surgery. And so this game of denial, delay, and dismissal, and very importantly, deprioritization of Kira's just symptoms and her pain just continues to escalate. Nine o'clock comes. And so nine o'clock, the only thing they've done up to this time is give her IV fluids, right? And so around nine o'clock, a nurse comes in to change her fluids and... just out of desperation i followed her outside of the room and i grabbed her by both of her hands i looked her deep in her eyes i said look my wife is not doing well they said they were going to take her back for a ct scan nobody has come i've been asking what's going on they keep on giving me the run around nobody's doing anything they said they might take her back for surgery nobody's doing anything she's not looking good can you please just help us Please. […]
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