Help Erica become a Midwife
Donation protected
First things first my name is Erica. In my family I am the 2nd generation to be born in the US. Three out of four of my grandparents were born in Boriquen *Puerto Rico*, and the 4th was born in Chile. I actually know nothing of my Chilean ancestry or culture, but would love to learn one day. Essentially I was raised solely with my Boricua culture, typical “nuyorican” in Jersey, super loud and proud!
My culture and traditions play a big role in the way I move in this world, especially in my birth work. Around 2015 I found my calling to become a Partera/midwife. I had no clue how to become a midwife or knew anyone I could reach out to, I just knew I was going to make it happen. The goal was and still is to become a midwife like my ancestors, not just equipped with knowledge on catching babies but also with knowledge in herbs, spiritual healing, body work, etc. I just knew I needed to become a midwife with traditional values so I can serve my people and offer support and care that was not readily available. I later found out that this work runs through my veins! My maternal abuelita, Estela, let me know that her grandmother, my tatarabuela was a Taino midwife.
It’s been 7 long years on this journey and so much has happened. Becoming a partera is not something that’s done in one lifetime but rather in several lifetimes and generations. I had to remember the work my ancestors did. I started off by building a deeper connection to the ancestral knowledge and traditions that were already passed down to me, as well as making it a priority to sit at the feet of my elders and listen to their stories & teachings. I went down so many rabbit holes and learned and unlearned so much! I eventually became a doula in 2017 to get my foot into the birth world.
Now in the year of 2022 I am a full spectrum doula and student midwife! I offer support to BIPOC through all stages of reproductive health, whether that be puberty, uterine health, fertility, abortion, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and menopause. Because I primarily service low income families through a sliding scale and sometimes probono, I myself am living low income.
Through out these 7years finances have always been the biggest obstacle through my midwifery journey. I was a 20 year old cosmetology student when I found my calling to be a midwife. I dropped out of cosmetology school not only to put my full focus on becoming a midwife, but also so that I wouldn’t be paying tuition on a trade I wasn’t working towards in the long run.
So much growth and so many good things happened to me through out those 7 years, but what folks didn’t see was all the struggles I went through. Going homeless and having to secure emergency housing with my college + take out extra loans to accommodate that. Hoping trains to get to my internship & doula trainings with ancient song doula services. Having jobs that weren’t accommodating to my birth work. Having Going homeless again. I got accepted into a home birth midwifery program while temporarily living in a trap house. Finally got my first apartment, an accommodating and good paying nanny job, started midwifery school. However I quickly burned out from being a full time student, having a full time job, attending births, facilitating and contributing to community events, herbal school and showing up for my family and friends.
I took a break from everything to work on my mental health and the business aspect of birth work. I was hoping to lessen my load so that when I go back to midwifery school I’ll be able to avoid burn out. Shortly after the pandemic started and I lost my job. Shortly after that I became pregnant and had a life threatening illness called hyperemisis gravidarum. Because I could not financially afford the care I needed nor to stay bedridden through the pregnancy, I chose to get an abortion. Although I terminated early I was ill for close to a year after.
I am finally at a place where I plan to start midwifery school again in the coming trimester. However, finances is still a very big obstacle. I am currently making about 80% of my income through my birth work. Whether that be by providing birth & postpartum support, cooking nourishing postpartum foods, encapsulating placentas or workshops/speaking. Being that I work primarily low income families, I do not earn a livable wage. I am reaching out to community to help support me through my midwifery journey.
Funds that are contributed to this fundraiser will go towards:
-midwifery school fees
-books and educational supplies
-school related travel fees
-allowing me to continue serving low income families
-car maintenance so I may continue to see clients as a doula and student midwife
-building my midwifery bag
And more..
By donating you are helping to birth an Indigenous homebirth midwife in a country that is severely lacking in this area. New Jersey the state I live in has the fourth highest maternal mortality rate in the nation. With black birthing people being 7x more likely to die and Black babies being 3x more likely to die. The infant and maternal mortality rate in the United States as a whole is extremely high & currently a national crisis. The United States has a higher infant mortality rate than any of the other 27 wealthy countries. Midwives and their care are often deemed “less than” that of an OBGYN in the US, despite research showing that midwife attended births are safe and actually lowered the rates of interventions. With homebirth with a midwife being the safest place for folks with low risk pregnancies to give birth.
My culture and traditions play a big role in the way I move in this world, especially in my birth work. Around 2015 I found my calling to become a Partera/midwife. I had no clue how to become a midwife or knew anyone I could reach out to, I just knew I was going to make it happen. The goal was and still is to become a midwife like my ancestors, not just equipped with knowledge on catching babies but also with knowledge in herbs, spiritual healing, body work, etc. I just knew I needed to become a midwife with traditional values so I can serve my people and offer support and care that was not readily available. I later found out that this work runs through my veins! My maternal abuelita, Estela, let me know that her grandmother, my tatarabuela was a Taino midwife.
It’s been 7 long years on this journey and so much has happened. Becoming a partera is not something that’s done in one lifetime but rather in several lifetimes and generations. I had to remember the work my ancestors did. I started off by building a deeper connection to the ancestral knowledge and traditions that were already passed down to me, as well as making it a priority to sit at the feet of my elders and listen to their stories & teachings. I went down so many rabbit holes and learned and unlearned so much! I eventually became a doula in 2017 to get my foot into the birth world.
Now in the year of 2022 I am a full spectrum doula and student midwife! I offer support to BIPOC through all stages of reproductive health, whether that be puberty, uterine health, fertility, abortion, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and menopause. Because I primarily service low income families through a sliding scale and sometimes probono, I myself am living low income.
Through out these 7years finances have always been the biggest obstacle through my midwifery journey. I was a 20 year old cosmetology student when I found my calling to be a midwife. I dropped out of cosmetology school not only to put my full focus on becoming a midwife, but also so that I wouldn’t be paying tuition on a trade I wasn’t working towards in the long run.
So much growth and so many good things happened to me through out those 7 years, but what folks didn’t see was all the struggles I went through. Going homeless and having to secure emergency housing with my college + take out extra loans to accommodate that. Hoping trains to get to my internship & doula trainings with ancient song doula services. Having jobs that weren’t accommodating to my birth work. Having Going homeless again. I got accepted into a home birth midwifery program while temporarily living in a trap house. Finally got my first apartment, an accommodating and good paying nanny job, started midwifery school. However I quickly burned out from being a full time student, having a full time job, attending births, facilitating and contributing to community events, herbal school and showing up for my family and friends.
I took a break from everything to work on my mental health and the business aspect of birth work. I was hoping to lessen my load so that when I go back to midwifery school I’ll be able to avoid burn out. Shortly after the pandemic started and I lost my job. Shortly after that I became pregnant and had a life threatening illness called hyperemisis gravidarum. Because I could not financially afford the care I needed nor to stay bedridden through the pregnancy, I chose to get an abortion. Although I terminated early I was ill for close to a year after.
I am finally at a place where I plan to start midwifery school again in the coming trimester. However, finances is still a very big obstacle. I am currently making about 80% of my income through my birth work. Whether that be by providing birth & postpartum support, cooking nourishing postpartum foods, encapsulating placentas or workshops/speaking. Being that I work primarily low income families, I do not earn a livable wage. I am reaching out to community to help support me through my midwifery journey.
Funds that are contributed to this fundraiser will go towards:
-midwifery school fees
-books and educational supplies
-school related travel fees
-allowing me to continue serving low income families
-car maintenance so I may continue to see clients as a doula and student midwife
-building my midwifery bag
And more..
By donating you are helping to birth an Indigenous homebirth midwife in a country that is severely lacking in this area. New Jersey the state I live in has the fourth highest maternal mortality rate in the nation. With black birthing people being 7x more likely to die and Black babies being 3x more likely to die. The infant and maternal mortality rate in the United States as a whole is extremely high & currently a national crisis. The United States has a higher infant mortality rate than any of the other 27 wealthy countries. Midwives and their care are often deemed “less than” that of an OBGYN in the US, despite research showing that midwife attended births are safe and actually lowered the rates of interventions. With homebirth with a midwife being the safest place for folks with low risk pregnancies to give birth.
Organizer
The Bruja Doula
Organizer
Newark, NJ