Elaine Welteroth has a brand new bundle of joy!
The 37-year-old media personality and founder of the birthFUND welcomed her second baby, a son named SantiGold, with her husband, musician Jonathan Singletary, in early November.
While Welteroth told People magazine that she and her growing family are “all healthy and happy,” she admitted her sleep has been suffering since welcoming her family’s newest addition.
“I’m not sure my brain is operating at full capacity,” she told the outlet. “I’m sleep-deprived, but I’m good, I’m good.”
Recalling the exact day she went into labor, she said she just knew it was the day.
“So much of his birth was divinely orchestrated,” she explained. “I just had this instinct and I said, ‘I’m going to drop my toddler off to school, and by the time he’s home, he’s going to have a little brother.’”
Beyond her general spidey senses, Welteroth had the impulse to be outdoors, so she took herself to the park.
“The minute that I sat down on the grass, I had my first contraction,” she said. “I was like, ‘let’s go baby. It’s happening.”
Even still, the young mom of two didn’t develop an immediate sense of urgency, even stopping to do some Reiki in the park with her midwife. Soon after, she headed home for what she described as “the most beautiful” and “the most peaceful” home birth. SantiGold’s peaceful delivery may be part of the inspiration behind his name, which she said means “peace” in Thai.
“I think the second time around, you have more confidence in the process,” she noted, adding, “You can trust the process a bit more. The baby was there within three hours, I couldn’t believe it.”
Welteroth, who welcomed her first child, a boy, with her husband in April 2022, has long touted her second pregnancy as her “redemption pregnancy.” Her first was marked with complications and anxiety. Midway through, after learning the full extent of the Black maternal health crisis, she began working with a midwife and decided to have a home birth. She also learned just how many families can’t afford the life-saving care of midwives and doulas, prompting her to launch the birthFUND earlier this year.
It was during the organization’s official launch that she learned she was pregnant with her second child as she announced her first cohort of beneficiaries. Now, her organization is gearing up to award 41 more families.
“I started with the mantra ‘It’s on us to save us,'” she said. “And I’m just so, so proud of our team, and that we’re able to show up for women and families, especially in this moment now where we are seeing the system failing families. I’m really heartened and hopeful.”