About OML
Our Mothers’ Light Birth & Baby Village (OML) is committed to transforming the birth experience for women, their families, and communities in Chicago and beyond.
Rooted in the understanding that cultural traditions and rituals were disrupted by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, OML seeks to reclaim ancestral knowledge and restore time-honored practices for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum healing within the diaspora.
Our model of care is inspired by African ancestral traditions and enriched by extensive birth training and lived experience. We are honored to carry forward the wisdom of the mothers who came before us.
Through this work, we aim to empower women to reclaim and share this knowledge, helping to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates while fostering a strong support network for mothers, children, and families to thrive in love and community.
Meet the founder-Zetanefert
When my feet first touched African soil in 2006, my knees buckled beneath me. The earth called, and my spirit answered. "Welcome home," the people said, and I felt it in my bones – I had returned to where my ancestors once walked.
For 14 years, I've stood in the sacred space of birth as a doula, witnessing women's transformation into mothers. But my journey wasn't planned; it unfolded through divine synchronicity. When close friends asked me to accompany them during their most vulnerable moments of childbirth, I discovered my purpose: to be the grounding presence women need as they bring forth new life.
As an apprentice healer, childbirth educator, and mother of four, I weave together modern evidence-based practices with the ancient wisdom of our West African ancestors. Every technique I share, every herb I recommend, every ritual I teach or perform honors the unbroken line of knowledge passed through generations of women.
I dream of being a bridge for women of the diaspora, guiding them back to ancestral healing traditions. The knowledge I share isn't mine alone – it belongs to the mothers who came before me and to my teachers across the ocean who, in their benevolence, recognized and nurtured my calling.
When you work with me, you're not just hiring a doula. You're reconnecting with centuries of women's wisdom, honoring your heritage, and claiming your place in the circle of mothers who have sustained our communities since time immemorial.
This is more than birth work. This is ancestral reclamation. This is coming home.
"My wife being pregnant was a very exciting time for me, but I was also worried about the challenges that lay ahead, with choosing to go for a natural birth, ideally with minimal medical interaction and in a relaxed setting. [Zetanefert] was perfect for us and she clicked with my wife right away. Throughout my wife's pregancy, she was a calming factor in our lives, someone who reassured my wife through her own knowledge, and experience.
~ Parrish Morgan