Whitney Green's Journey to Becoming a Midwife

Growing up in the 90’s, while my friends were at the beach or an amusement park, I was home watching “A Birthing Story” on TLC. At the tender age of eight I knew the uses and side effects of an epidural, episiotomy, and Pitocin. Before I knew what a Birth Doula was, I found myself advocating on birthing mothers behalf to ensure safe and healthy deliveries. I assisted my first live birth in 2006 and in that moment, I knew what I was called to be. I honed in on that passion to become the best birth doula possible. I officially started doula work at hospital births in 2011 and that is when I was introduced to the dark side of birthing in America. Women of color are not respected, heard, or given optimum care. America’s maternal and infant mortality rate are alarmingly like that of a third-world country. Much of that number is women and babies of color.

I was fortunate to have experienced three beautiful birth-center births, assisted by attentive midwives. Unfortunately, when I share my birth stories with others, not many can share wonderful memories. In my peer group it is the norm to hear of near-death experiences and non-medically necessary cesarean sections. Many women, especially women of color are not educated when it comes to how their bodies were designed for birth and many health professionals take advantage of that by dictating how women should birth.

My goal is to help fill the gap. There is a shortage of midwives overall, but there is a desperate need for birth workers of color to protect and advocate for women who look like us. I will be attending Commonsense Midwifery School in Orlando, FL. Commonsense is the first and only black-owned accredited program for Midwifery. Their focus is better birth experiences for all women, but particularly for minority and disenfranchised populations in the United States.

With your help I can pay for my prerequisite certifications for midwifery school as well as cover the first of the three-year program that leads to licensure. Long-term, my goal is to one day open my very own birthing center and to show my children that dreams do come true and that anything is possible with Christ on your side and determination. Your donation is a very intricate piece of that puzzle, your donation can be apart of why an underrepresented mother and baby lives or dies. Any amount helps, thank you and may God bless your generous giving.

If you prefer to give to another platform:

Cashapp: $virtuousmommy

Venmo: @WhitneyLatoyaGreen