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