'I felt safe and taken care of': can midwifery startups change our broken maternity care?
When Taylor-Rey J’Vera became pregnant with their first child in 2021, they wanted to choose their OB-GYN carefully. “I searched for someone brown and female-bodied, because I thought that would make me feel safer and healthier,” said J’Vera, who identifies as a Black and Puerto Rican plus-sized, non-binary lesbian.
Instead, their first-ever appointment became a traumatizing experience. The doctor said J’Vera’s weight made them high risk, despite their normal blood pressure and bloodwork. She asked them repeatedly if they wanted to “keep the baby”. And when she realized J’Vera was a lesbian, she made a statement comparing artificial insemination to cheating.
Even so, J’Vera balked when their wife suggested a new maternity clinic called Oula, where the primary practitioners are midwives. “When I thought of midwifery, I thought of people sitting in a ‘kumbaya’ circle while ladies are screaming their head off,” J’Vera said.
Oula quickly dispelled this notion. J’Vera was impressed with the office’s “Gwyneth Paltrow vibe” – buttery-soft textiles in beige, cream and muted pink – but also the sense of welcome; at J’Vera’s first appointment, the midwife gave her pronouns and asked J’Vera for theirs.
In October 2021, J’Vera gave birth to a son, River, after an induction and caesarean. It wasn’t the birthing experience they’d hoped for, but that was less important to J’Vera than their experience of pregnancy as a whole. They weren’t constantly put on a scale. Their medical questions were promptly answered through Oula’s app. They “felt safe and taken care of” throughout. “Not just my body,” J’Vera said. “My heart and my mind.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/08/midwife-startups-obgyn-pregnancy-birth-oula
This is how it should be. I wish I'd had the option during any of my pregnacies/births!
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