Postpartum Depression and Sex Ed for Arab Women with Nour Emam
In this episode, Hannah is joined by Nour Emam, the founder & CEO of Motherbeing, as well as a sexual health educator and birth worker. Nour and Hannah talk about the lack of sex education in Egypt as well as the harmful attitudes around virginity. Nour shares how experiencing a traumatic birth and postpartum depression led her into working as a doula, and how that led to her work creating for Egyptian and MENA women around sex education. Finally, Nour talks about her course, Bridal Bootcamp, how framing sex education around marriage can make it accessible to more women in the Middle East and North Africa, and gives some really helpful advice for other people in conservative countries wanting to work in disciplines around sex and the importance of going slowly and safely.
CW: We talk about postpartum depression, suicidal ideation, traumatic birth, and rape throughout this episode.
Read the episode transcript here!
QUESTIONS FROM LISTENERS
What exactly is a doula/how does it differ from a midwife?
How did your family be actually wanting to pursue sex ed? And do you have any advice for doing sex ed in a conservative country? I want to be a sex therapist, but I'm Moroccan.
Can sex ed for queer folks be introduced in the Arab world, specifically Egypt? And how?
What keeps you going when work stops being rewarding?
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MORE ABOUT NOUR EMAM
Nour Emam is the founder & CEO of Motherbeing, as well as a sexual health educator and birth worker, who works at the intersection of women’s health, education and technology to provide tangible and transparent reproductive and sexual health solutions, services and products that are widely-accessible, culture-centric, and evidence-based for Arab women living across the MENA region and beyond. Motherbeing has over 2.5 million followers across social media, has been featured in the New York Times and was #1 on Apple Podcasts in the MENA region for its two season show "The Mother Being Podcast".
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