To honor birth is to honor all the lands and matriarchs within our lineages.
Joyell Arvella, JD
Joyell was put on the traditional midwifery path by her family’s matriarchs 22 years ago. Since then, she has attended more than 120 births and supported dozens of families through womb-to-tomb care. In addition to her botanical and midwifery apprenticeships with Community Midwives worldwide, Joyell codified her skills by completing Spinning Babies® with Nicole Morales, Holistic Quantum Midwifery training with Whapio, The Birth Well training with Nilajah Brown, SMC Full Circle Birth & Postpartum training with Mama Shafia Monroe, Community Health Worker certification, and a MEAC-accredited midwifery school. Joyell is an Apprentice Midwife and Udade, working hard to become one of the few multi-state licensed Black midwives in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
Embodiment
As an independent scholar and proud birth nerd, Joyell has studied the ways of her aunts and grandmothers— identifying the connections between community cooperation, ancient foodways, reproductive physiology, and spirituality. Her apprenticeships and research have informed her belief that birth work is an ancestral art form that must be protected. After sitting with griots and elders on 5 continents, Joyell founded Wombs of Wata, a community-based initiative that sits at the intersection of birth justice, residency, and sustainability. She is also the steward of Birthstead, a forthcoming seed library, birthing garden, and retreat space. You can find her facilitating traditional midwifery classes, writing, in her garden, or learning another language when she is not supporting families. Joyell is learning isiXhosa and Hindi, and is proficient in French and Spanish.
“Joyell. I already know I won’t be able to put into words how important her presence was. I remember looking her in the eyes as she told me to give one more push right before my little one slipped into her more than capable hands. I knew from the first prenatal appointment when she felt my baby in the womb that she had the magic touch. This held true as she used various techniques to help alleviate pain during labor. She is all in, so caring and adoring of babies, and I would want her by my side if there was ever a next time.”- Joanna
Modalities
Joyell supports communities as a traveling birthkeeper, teacher, medicine woman, and creative. While she no longer works in international human rights law full-time, her legal skills plus her background in racial and gender equity strategy inform her approach to reproductive autonomy. Her passion for birth justice is rooted in centering traditional midwifery, embodying ancestral practices, and building self-sustaining birth communities.
