Greetings!
My name is Andrea Little Mason, Ed.D., however, in my professional work and internationally, I am affectionately known as "Dr. Doula." I use my expertise to promote resourcefulness in WOMBmen, especially during the childbearing year. As an influencer and thought leader in birth culture, I encourage WOMBmen to “Reclaim Their Birth Rites” by embracing the best of what previous generations have to offer. Read more about the work I have done below.
Educator & Scholar
International Speaker
Birth Ambassador
Relationship Strategist
Legacy Builder &
One Who
Considers the Heavens
Who is Dr. Doula?
Dr. Andrea Little Mason, Ed.D., affectionately known as Dr. Doula, is an Educator, Scholar, Speaker, Birth Ambassador, Relationship Strategist, Legacy Builder and one who Considers the Heavens. She travels globally to explore and unite WOMBmen of African descent across continents. Dr. Doula advocates reclaiming ancestral wisdom and practices lost over time, empowering WOMBmen to embrace their fullest potential. Through her teachings, she urges the retrieval of forgotten knowledge through "SANKOFA," reminding us that it is never too late to reclaim what has been lost, stolen, abandoned, surrendered and forgotten about WOMBmanhood.
More About Dr. Doula
Dr. Doula uses opportunities for international travel and speaking to expand her global knowledge of birth practices to share those insights with others. She promotes the tenets of the Centre of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and was a keynote speaker at the first Traditional Birth Attendants Conference held in South Africa.
On June 5 - 6, 2019, Dr. Doula had the honor of representing the Daughters of the African Diaspora at the Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) Conference in Durban, South Africa. She spoke on the topic: Reclaiming and Embracing Traditional Birth Attendants’ Knowledge and Practices of Africans in the Diaspora. If you would like to participate in some upcoming opportunities to help work on a plan to build a bridge between Diasporic African women and those born on the Continent, please CONTACT DR. DOULA and let her know.​​
Along with supporting women during the childbearing year, Dr. Doula focuses on providing educational resources through her Signature Course "10 THINGS" on the fundamentals of birth and postpartum, Sankofa Birth Ambassador Mentoring, and the "Sankofa Ways" Sacred Spaces Workshops and Home Visits where she teaches how to SANKOFA and return to indigenous traditions of caring for pregnant and postpartum women. She initiated the “Africa to the Diaspora” Birth and Postpartum Project that involves interviews with Continental African women sharing traditions with Diasporic African women. These interviews are shared through SBA Mentorship. Additionally, Dr. Doula interviews Black women around the world to record the stories of what she calls the “Black Birth Renaissance” through the Birth HERstory Blog. and Podcast.
​The BLACK HISTORY of Birth in America. Education that acknowledges the contributions of women of African descent in birth culture is still scarce in modern birth culture. Dr. Doula addresses the parts of birth in America that have been lost, stolen, abandoned, forgotten and surrendered, while issuing a charge about who is responsible for what and discussing ways that Black women can empower themselves to improve their own birth outcomes. LISTEN HERE.
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​After more than 30 years of marriage partnership with her college sweetheart, Coach Gene, she counts her greatest accomplishments to be her four adult sons: Eugene IV (Thulani), Imani, Andreu and Omari.
CONSIDERING THE HEAVENS... MY STORY
​When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place… What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? ~ Psalm 8:3-4
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I never understood Astrology. I knew that there were people who spoke negatively about it because of religious beliefs, but I found it challenging to understand what people were looking at and what all of the symbols, lines and angles meant. As I have considered the heavens, I have come to believe that the energies represented there are the Creator's gift to humanity.
I remember learning about the Creation Story as a child, and the part of the story that states:
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
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​I had never considered that the celestial bodies offer symbolism of energies with lights and shadows that we experience as human beings. I had never been taught that I could consider the heavens above to get a clearer picture of what is happening here below, on earth.
I had never felt so seen and so valued as I did the moment that I looked at my natal chart and realized that many of the unique characteristics of my personality that perplexed others were written in the sky the day I was born. I saw myself when I looked at my chart and I felt personally seen by the Most High. For me, it affirmed yet again that my existence was intentional and my life purpose was considered before I took human form.
As I learned more, I considered how much of our everyday lives as humans are influenced by the movements of the Sun and the Moon, and how our ancestors and generations before us recognized certain connections within all of creation. Through the movements of the planets, I saw the Sacred Geometry my mother had taught me in high school. Even my African name points me back to the heavens. Khwezi is the Zulu name that I was given by our South African family some years ago. It means, "morning star" which is Venus, the one who goes before making way for the dawn, the time when our world is illuminated.
I have had opportunities to work with clients all over the world, and through their sessions, received many confirmations about the insights we can find when we observe the heavens.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. ~ Psalm 121:1-2
The first time Dr. Doula saw Saturn with its rings through a telescope... WOW!!!