WATCH: Midwives 101: What They Do And Why Black Mamas-to-Be Should Have One

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Midwives do more than deliver babies. Nurse Queen dishes on the care they provide, how they differ from doulas, and fallacies.

Transcript

00:00Ladies, did you know that black women in the US are dying at a rate nearly three times

00:04higher than that of white women when they're giving birth? Scary times and scary numbers.

00:08Childbirth should be a very happy occasion for black women, but it's not right now in

00:13this country. And that's why we have Black Maternal Health Week. And that is also why

00:16we here at Essence have brought experts to talk to us about ways that we can improve

00:20our birthing experience and have one that we want and have healthy, happy children.

00:25So I've invited Miss Nurse Queen here. She's a wonderful DMV-based certified nurse midwife and

00:31she's an entrepreneur. Thank you for coming. How are you? I'm doing good. Thank you so much for

00:35having me. I love it. I love it. Can you tell us why Black Maternal Health Week first and foremost

00:40is so important knowing everything that's going on and everything that black women are dealing

00:43with when they try to give birth? I think that black maternal health in general is very important

00:48because black women deserve beautiful birth stories. Oftentimes women are dying and they're

00:55dying because they're not being heard because they're not being advocated for. So I know that

00:59black maternal health, it takes birth, birth workers to really come into the picture and change that

01:06narrative of what the birth stories look like. Yeah. So black women and black families can live on.

01:10Yes. And first and foremost, how did you come to realize that being a midwife was your calling?

01:16Yeah, of course. When I was younger, I wanted to be an OBGYN. I wanted to be a doctor. So I went the route.

01:21My mom is Jamaican. So I had a couple of choices, nurse, doctor, lawyer. So I went into nursing and

01:26then I got into labor and delivery. I loved it. And I transitioned to get my master's in nursing,

01:32which then led me to become a certified nurse midwife. So I have my master's in nursing

01:36as a certified nurse midwife, but I love all things birth. I love all things women's health,

01:41infant health, and also I love black women. So being a part of their birth and experience in pregnancy

01:47is very important to me. I love that. Can you kind of speak to what you do in the day-to-day

01:52as a midwife, like what you do for your patients and what people can expect when they have a nurse

01:57midwife like you? Yeah. So there are so many misconceptions out there about what a midwife

02:02does, but me, I am a hospital-based midwife. So I work in the hospital and my day-to-day is basically

02:07coming into either inductions where I'm managing labor, I'm delivering babies, I'm repairing vaginas

02:13after the delivery, and I'm doing postpartum rounds. But my provider aspect is coming into the

02:20hospital and making sure that the pregnancy goes exactly how the patient wants it to. Letting the

02:25patient know that they are the author of their story and that they can advocate for their self,

02:31and I'm with them along the way. Love that. And what's one of the biggest misconceptions or

02:35confusions when it comes to midwifery? There are so many misconceptions, honestly. But the biggest

02:41misconception is that a midwife and a doula is the same thing. So let me clear that up right now.

02:46Please, please. Yeah, I'm gonna clear it up. Midwives and doulas, they are both needed providers

02:52for births, but midwives are medical providers. So we are the providers that deliver the baby. So when

02:58the baby comes out, we're delivering. When the vagina needs to be repaired, we're the one repairing.

03:04And doulas, they're needed as well, but they're not providers in the aspect of physical,

03:08but more so emotional and advocacy. So I like to frame them as like the other baby daddy.

03:16And they advocate for the patient. They're educated to help the mom during their labor,

03:21their pregnancy, prenatal, postpartum. So both are needed, but midwives deliver babies just like an

03:26OBGYN does and doulas help from an emotional standpoint. Yes. What do you love most about the work

03:33that you do? I love being able to be a part of the most vulnerable, exciting part of a woman's life.

03:40You don't get many moments like that as a woman. So being a part of that with women, especially black

03:45women, when oftentimes it's scary, it means a lot to me because I'm able to advocate for them when

03:51they're unable to advocate for themselves. Nice. I love that. I love that. So Nurse Queen, she's here to

03:57give us not just this information, but she's also going to break down some of the myths and things

04:02that you need to know and consider if you're getting ready to have a child and you'd like to have

04:06a certain birth team that is more supportive and understanding and helpful and make sure that you're

04:10safe and have the best delivery possible. So we're going to give her the floor and allow her to share

04:15five things that you should know in your considering a midwife. Okay. So hi everyone. My name is

04:20My Queen Dickens. I am a certified nurse midwife. And today I'm going to give you five things that you

04:24should know about midwifery care. Number one, the biggest misconception about midwifery care is

04:30that a midwife and a doula is the same thing. Midwives, they are providers that deliver babies

04:36and doulas are there from an emotional standpoint. Both are needed throughout your birthing experience.

04:42The second misconception is that midwives are only able to deliver at home. We actually can deliver

04:47in a variety of settings. So we're talking home birth, birthing center and hospital. So knowing that

04:53you can be safe in any setting that you choose for your birth. You do not have to be scared of

04:57the hospital, ladies. Advocacy is there for you. You can have a doula in the hospital. You can have

05:02a midwife. You can have your desired birthing team. Number three, most people think that midwives only

05:08are there during pregnancy and postpartum, but midwives can actually take care of you your entire lifespan.

05:13As a woman, a midwife can take care of a newborn to 28 days and also your GYN and women's health. So

05:20we're talking prenatal, postpartum, birth, and also perimenopausal and menopausal. Number four,

05:27when we're talking about a birth, you should definitely have a plan. Now, I don't really

05:31like to resonate with birth plans, but I do think you need to have some type of birth guide. Your birth,

05:36your labor, it may not go as planned, but I want you to be able to advocate for yourself. I want you

05:42to have some things in place. So having a birth guide that's going to guide you through this experience

05:46is going to be very important. So you know exactly how you're going to navigate your birth,

05:50your labor, your postpartum. And there are many different resources out there for you to use.

05:56There's an amazing company called Motherly Touch that actually has postpartum bags and also birth

06:01guides for women to help them plan their birthing experience. And number five, lastly, you are the

06:07author of your birthing story. You are in control. You are able to advocate for yourself. You are capable of

06:13creating your dream birth team, whether that's a midwife, doula, lactation consultant. You are

06:19capable of doing that in any setting. Weren't those the best recommendations? Thank you so much,

06:24Queen, for sharing your knowledge with our lovely readers, our lovely watchers, everybody, all the

06:29essays. We appreciate it so much because as you know, we want to have healthy and happy pregnancies.

06:34And it's a very scary time for black women to do so. So thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

06:38Thank you for championing us, taking care of us, sewing up vaginas. We appreciate you. We

06:44appreciate you. We appreciate all the mothers-to-be, all the moms, all of the birth workers. We really

06:49appreciate it. So we wish you all a happy and healthy pregnancy. And we thank you for watching.

06:54Thank you so much. Happy Black Maternal Health Week.

06:56Happy Black Maternal Health Week.

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