Okunsola M. Amadou

Museum Studies Scholar | Birth Priestess™ | Folk Midwife™ Thought Leader | Midwifery Educator & Cultural Preservationist

Reclaiming, Preserving & Elevating the Sacred Art of Folk Midwifery™

Brittany L. Conteh, professionally known as Water Priestess Okunsola M. Amadou, BP, FM, CPM, CD, CLC, is a pioneering midwife, educator, and preservationist dedicated to redefining the legacy of Folk Midwifery™ and ensuring its rightful place in the cultural and historical record.

After leading a midwifery clinic for over a decade and practicing as a Certified Professional Midwife, Okunsola is now transitioning from clinical practice to full-time cultural preservation, focusing on the documentation, protection, and advancement of Folk Midwifery™ traditions worldwide.

As a Museum Studies scholar, set to graduate in Spring 2025, Okunsola’s work is deeply rooted in cultural research, ancestral reclamation, and historical preservation, with a focus on water dieties & orisas, as well as ancient midwifery practices thorughout the many coastal communities across the world. Her mission is to unearth and archive the hidden stories, rituals, and practices of Folk Midwives™ across global lineages, ensuring they are protected as an intangible cultural heritage for generations to come.

A Legacy of Leadership: Birthwork Advocacy and The Advancement of Black Maternal Health

As the Founder & CEO of Jamaa Birth Village, Okunsola led groundbreaking efforts to transform Black Maternal Health in Missouri and beyond. Her achievements include:

✔ Opening Missouri’s first Black-led midwifery clinic on Juneteenth 2020, after training with traditional midwives and fetish priestesses in Ghana (2013).
✔ Becoming the First Black Certified Professional Midwife & First Black Registered CPM Preceptor in Missouri.
✔ Certifying over 460 Black doulas, significantly closing the Black doula disparity gap in the state.
✔ Earning 24 awards for her contributions to Black Maternal Health.
✔ Consulting hospitals, policymakers, and international organizations on equitable maternal care policies.
✔ Receiving ten state/local proclamations, seven resolutions-including a Congressional Resolution for her work in birth justice.

Her leadership has not only expanded access to midwifery and doula services, but also challenged systemic inequities in maternal care, ensuring culturally centered and community-driven solutions.

The Midwifery Folklorist™: Bridging Cultural Preservation & Advocacy

Through her initiative The Midwifery Folklorist™, Okunsola is forging a new field of study, one that centers Folk Midwifery™ as a living, sacred tradition separate from folk medicine, through public offerings for educational awareness, and private membership offerings to preserve and honor sacred Folk Midwife™ and Birth Priestess™ lineages.

✔ Preserving Rituals & Ceremonies → Documenting the spiritual and cultural traditions of birthwork.
✔ Oral History Collection & Archiving → Recording the untold stories of Folk Midwives™ globally.
✔ Research & Museum Integration → Establishing Folk Midwifery™ within academic and historical institutions.
✔ Education & Public Speaking → Sharing knowledge through books, lectures, and storytelling.

In Autumn 2024, Okunsola launched a two-year independent field study to explore the untold stories of Folk Midwives, beginning in New Orleans, uncovering deep ancestral wisdom across regions and cultures.

Her upcoming book, “The Black Midwife Oracle™” and accompanying oracle deck—with a pre-release day in alignment with the Virgo Full Moon and Black Midwives Day on March 14, 2025, fully released on April 15, 2025— will be the first published collection-written by a Black Midwife-documenting the sacred history, ceremonies, and lived experiences of Black Grand Midwives alongside her personal journey.

Birthwork as a Spiritual Path: Priestess, Seer & Healer

Okunsola’s work is deeply spiritual, ancestral, and guided by divine purpose. As an initiated Vodun-Mami Wata, Ifa & Orisa Priestess, she embodies the sacred intersection of spiritual & ancestral birthwork, cultural preservation, and divine feminine wisdom.

✔ Her practice as a Birth Priestess™ integrates ancient African birth rites, ancestral healing, and metaphysical birthwork—ensuring birth remains a ceremonial passage, not a medical event.
✔ As a descendant of Fulani & Yoruba lineages, she carries the sacred responsibility of reclaiming African birth traditions and ensuring they are safeguarded against erasure.

Through her teachings, storytelling, and advocacy, she empowers cultural & spiritual midwives and future Birth Priestesses™ to reclaim their sacred calling, ensuring that birth remains autonomous, protected, spiritual, and deeply rooted in ancestral traditions.