WAUKESHA, Wis. — As a mother of 10, Tamara Thompson’s passion for birthwork began with her own journey into motherhood. Now, as a doula and student midwife, she has dedicated more than two decades to supporting families across Wisconsin.
“It all happened organically,” Thompson said. “I had no clue. I joined a support group for other breastfeeding moms, and it awoke in me the ability to support someone else.”
Through that experience at the Harambee Family Center on Madison’s South Side, she realized that breastfeeding was more than just a biological process.
“I realized breastfeeding was emotional, symbolic, spiritual, political—that, for me, really ushered in this whole birth worker sitting in front of you,” Thompson smiled.
Thompson initially began as a lactation counselor in Madison before becoming a doula across the area, guiding expectant parents through pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery.
“My job is to get them fully prepared to welcome that child and to understand what childbirth will look like for them,” she said.
“Sometimes I take my iPad with me, and we’re going over how the baby is going to be born and the choices and decisions to be made in the labor process.”
For more than 10 years, Thompson has put her life on hold to be there for others, often receiving messages in the early hours of the morning. She estimates she has worked with more than 500 families, helping them navigate one of life’s most transformative experiences.
“It feels a lot like responsibility and duty, and that I made a promise to someone that I would be there.”
Hoping to expand her impact, Thompson is now training to become a midwife, a role that will allow her to provide medical care to women before, during, and after birth.
She said that of the 200 to 250 midwives in Wisconsin, fewer than 10 are African American—a small number for a large need.
“As a Black person, we see the connectedness of things. We have smaller resources, smaller networks, and we have to find our own ways around barriers,” Thompson said.
She hopes to one day create a freestanding birth center and make the path to becoming a midwife more accessible, advocating for technical colleges to include midwifery programs.
“Midwifery, birthwork, doula work—it’s all impacting the future,” Thompson said. “On the surface, it looks like we just love bellies and babies, but we’re really trying to change the statistics that say African American babies are more likely to die.”
For Thompson, becoming a midwife is more than a profession—it’s a calling.
“To me, being a midwife means answering a calling,” she said. “There’s a need in my community, and I’m going to answer it.”
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