The American Midwife Series

Today I’m speaking with Amber Wilson, a certified Nurse Midwife in Virginia with her Doctorate of Nursing Practice. Amber knew she wanted to become a midwife after receiving prenatal care from a midwife during her first pregnancy. Amber’s journey to midwifery includes working as a pediatric nurse and a labor and delivery nurse for a number of years while serving in the Navy. After midwifery school, she joined a home birth practice in Idaho. Now living in Virginia, she’s serving military families and teaching nursing classes at Old Dominion University.

Amber shares with us how she used the GI bill and other resources within the Navy to get a nursing degree, go to midwifery school to become a Certified Nurse Midwife and then earn her Doctorate of Nursing Practice. She shares how she juggled the realities of school, work and motherhood and relied on her support network to make it happen. After working as a labor and delivery nurse in a hospital and as a homebirth midwife at a birth center in Idaho, she ultimately decided to pursue a career in the hospital setting. Amber reflects on what she learned as a hospital nurse and as a homebirth midwife and the financial and lifestyle factors that played into her decision. We also discuss bullying within midwifery, specifically within the preceptor-student relationship and the commonly used phrase, “midwives eat their young.” We describe concrete examples of bullying within midwifery, the career and financial impact an abusive preceptor can have on the student, what a healthy preceptor-student relationship looks like and how to tell the difference and tips for students who find themselves facing abuse. Amber also shared that she’s reading Mother George: The Midwife Who Shocked Grays Lake.

You can find Amber at journeytomidwifery.org and connect with her on Instagram @themotheringmidwife or email her at [email protected]. You can listen to her podcast, Journey to Midwifery, wherever you get your podcasts.

Find me on Instagram @AnjelicaMalone and at AnjelicaMalone.com.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you'd like to be a guest on The American Midwife Series, please send an email to [email protected], with details about who you are, where you're located, and a topic you'd like to discuss. We're especially interested in hearing from seasoned midwives of 10+ years and black midwives, but all are welcome.

We’d love to hear from you! Send in a voice message here: https://anchor.fm/anjelica-malone/message

In today’s episode I’m talking with Ms. Afua Hassan, a community midwife in Houston Texas, with 37 years of experience and more than 2,000 births under her belt. Ms. Afua graduated from Brown University with a degree in African American Studies. She was on the path to becoming an obstetrician, but found her calling after a chance meeting with a midwife. Ms. Afua’s journey brought her to Houston to study midwifery under Mercy Inyang. After graduating from the Houston School of Midwifery in 1984, she served for many years as a home birth midwife before opening her own birth center in Houston’s third ward in 2011--The Birthing Place. The Birthing Place is the only freestanding birth center in Houston owned and operated by a black midwife. In 2019, she received the Midwives Alliance of North America’s Outstanding Community Midwife Award for her exceptional clinical care and the emotional and educational support she provides to the community.

We cover a lot of topics in our conversation, including how The Birthing Place uses social media, especially Instagram, to recruit new clients, the hands-on training and mentorship she received as a practicing midwife during the first 10 years of her career, the benefits of living above the birth center and being located in Houston’s third ward, the longevity of her work and how she fights burnout and the impact she hopes her work will have on the future of midwifery.

***Listeners, please note that there are some technical issues with the recording, causing the audio to sound out of sync at times. You are still able to understand both speakers, but miss out on some of the richness of the dynamic conversation. This is far from ideal, but the insights from this interview are so interesting that we wanted to still share them with you.***

You can learn more about The Birthing Place at birthingplacemidwifehoustonnaturalhomewaterbirthservicesnearme.com/. You can also find The Birthing Place on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at the handle @The Birthing Place.

Find me on Instagram @AnjelicaMalone and at AnjelicaMalone.com.

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you'd like to be a guest on The American Midwife Series, please send an email to [email protected], with details about who you are, where you're located, and a topic you'd like to discuss. We're especially interested in hearing from seasoned midwives of 10+ years and black midwives, but all are welcome.

We’d love to hear from you! Send in a voice message here: https://anchor.fm/anjelica-malone/message

In this episode I chat with Rosemary Loperena, a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) from Aguadilla, PR. Rosemary attended and graduated from Birthingway College of Midwifery in Portland, OR after first spending 10 years working as an Industrial Engineer. She felt her call to Midwifery while completing her training to become a Licensed Massage Therapist and Doula. Rosemary offers so much wisdom in this episode about navigating birth, particularly in Puerto Rico. She even provides us with a list of resources for childbirth classes, doula services, midwifery care and midwifery education across the island. We dove into how she juggled making an income while in school, working at four different midwifery practices in order to gain all the skills she needed to take the NARM exam, her upcoming trip to Haiti with Mama Baby Haiti, and the tension she feels in serving her beloved community in Puerto Rico and the Latin community in Portland, Oregon. You can support the midwives and mothers giving birth in Haiti on the Mama Baby Haiti website and support Rosemary's trip to Haiti here: https://www.gofundme.com/help-rose-loperena-serve-pregnant-woman-in-haiti.  Rosemary is currently enjoying the ocean back home in Puerto Rico, specifically Crashboat Beach, which is a gorgeous strip of coast on the western side of the island, with turquoise blue water and an uber fresh fish shop right on the sand. She’s also been into gardening, sleeping (birthworkers, you know!), knitting, playing pingpong, and reading Diana Gabaldon’s, The Fiery Cross.  You can connect with Rosemary on Facebook and email here at [email protected].  Links & Resources from the Episode:  1. Debbie Diaz, CPM Escuela Dar a Luz https://escueladaraluz.com  2.  Zayelit Budet Meléndez, Childbirth Educator San Juan, PR  3. Mujeres Ayudando Madres (MAM) Child Ed and many other services in the San Juan area http://mujeresayudandomadres.com 4. Heidi Hernández, CNM Childbirth Educator and Midwife in Moca https://www.facebook.com/casaarje/  5. Gina Dacosta Rivera, CPM Midwife & Childbirth Educator in Manati: GROW Pregnancy & Parenting Center https://www.facebook.com/pg/GrowPPC/about/?ref=page_internal 6. Zally Santos Child Ed and Breastfeeding Support Umanize on FB  7. Yarilis García Ramos, Certified Professional Midwife in Caguas & San Juan, PR https://www.facebook.com/doula.bebe  8. Mumu Marianne Charline, Partera in Cidra, PR https://www.facebook.com/parteramumu/ Would you like to be a guest on the podcast? Email me here and tell me where you live and what you're up to: [email protected]. You can also connect with me on Instagram or my website www.anjelicamalone.com.