Mami Wata & Orisa Priestess | African Traditional Midwife

Museum Studies Student | Priestess | Midwife | Folklorist 

Brittany L. Conteh, known professionally as Priestess Okunsola M. Amadou, TM, CPM, CD, is a Mami Wata, Ifa, & Orisa Priestess through the Ewe Vodun & Yoruba lineages. She is the President & CEO of Jamaa Birth Village, which was founded in 2015, in Ferguson, MO. Okunsola was inspired to create a new model of care inSt. Louis, Missouri to improve birth outcomes after surviving two complicated births as a teen mother, later saving herself from hospital harm by birthing her third son at home with Midwives and Doulas. Okunsola is now a 23x time award winning Midwife & Black Maternal Health trailblazer, recognized as the First Black Certified Professional Midwife, First Black Midwife to graduate from a MEAC accredited school, and First Black Registered Preceptor through the North American Registry of Midwives in the State of Missouri. She’s currently a full-time Museum Studies student set to graduate Spring 2025, and leads Okunsola’s School of Traditional Midwifery™.

On Juneteenth of 2020, Okunsola opened Missouri's First Black led Midwifery clinic. In 2022, Okunsola led an initiative to purchase 1-acre of land in Ferguson, just 1-block from their Midwifery clinic, to build an innovative and pioneering Black-led Birth Center and Postpartum Retreat Haven. She’s launched a capital campaign to build the new location debt free, scheduled to break ground Autumn 2024. 

Okunsola’s leadership also grew the St. Louis Black Doula community from a small doula community to certifying 463+ doulas in 8-years through “Okunsola’s Community Doula Training©, St. Louis’ First Black written, created & taught community-based doula training. Okunsola led the STL 360 Doula Initiative through the international maternal child health organization Merck for Mothers. Through this initiative, Okunsola worked with doulas, city and state departments of health, hospitals and hospital associations to close the Black Doula disparity gap and create doula friendly hospitals. After 3-years of collaborative work, Saint Louis is now recognized as a Safer Childbirth City. Okunsola has been featured in over 50 media publications such as ABC More in Common, The Root, National Geographic, The Today Show, The Washington Post, and more.

Okunsola is now the recipient of 8 Black Maternal Health state and local proclamations, including 1-Congressional Resolution for her work. Okunsola currently sits on numerous local, state, national and global Black Maternal Health task forces, boards and committees. She is the founder of the global initiative of "Black Doula Day™" and is a kindred partner with Black Mamas Matter Alliance. Okunsola currently practices as a Global Midwife-providing Black Maternal Health consultation services for US based hospitals to improve equitable policies, state legislators to create bills that protect and advance community birth work, and international NGOs in creating their own birthing villages removing colonialism from community birthing practices. 

Okunsola is a mother of 3-sons and wife to her long-time sweetheart. Okunsola is of Fulani & Yoruba royal lineages, and descends from pioneers, innovators and Midwife healers. In 2009 Okunsola became a Mami Wata and Orisa devotee. She underwent her official initiation as an Orisa Priestess in 2021. In 2024, she completed her Mami Wata Vodun & Ifa initiations. She belongs to the prestigious Balewa lineage as an Iyalorisha & Ifa Priestess, and the Voncujovi lineage as a Mami Wata Priestess.