This Nurse Provides a Voice for Those Struggling to Use Their Own - Ep. 38
Aiyana is a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP). She provides facts, breaks myths, and gets down to the nitty-gritty of all things vagina. She shares her story, the stories of others, and offers invaluable information from various people. Even more so, she aims to aid in providing a voice to those struggling to use their own. In a time where we as providers don’t have enough masks to protect ourselves and treatment and screenings are being rationed, it’s our time to be ready to “flip a table” as Aiyana says, in the name of doing what’s right.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema McElroy (00:01): All right. Hey, Nurses on Fire. I have the honor of having Ms Aiyana join us from the Vagina Chronicles. Hey Ana. And um, I love Ayanna because she represents for us women out here who sometimes don't know how to speak up for ourselves or don't know that we have to. So I appreciate your platform so much, but let's get started in talking about how you got into nursing in the first place.
Aiyana Davison (00:33): Oh, okay. You got time. How did I get into nursing? Well, um, I, well, a roundabout story. So I actually was, I'm not planning to be a nurse, like let's be, it wasn't even on my radar. Um, I just knew that growing up I want it to be in a profession where I could help people and really just make an impact with them and connect with them. And so I'm trying to figure out what would lead me to that path. And then I saw this birthing video when I was a young kid growing up and it was like where everyone else was like scared and petrified. I was just like, well, this seems very normal.
Aiyana Davison (01:19): Um, and so I like my, I had my eyes set on that. Like I wanted to actually be an OB GYN. So, um, my roots start with, uh, being premed, taking the MCAT, applying to medical school. Yeah. I went the distance girl. Sure did. Um, and in the midst of all of that, as I was completing a post baccalaureate program, which is like after, you know, after your back baccalaureate program, I did that in biomedical sciences and that kind of mimics your first year of medical school where I was. And, um, I realized this is not what I expected it to be an anticipated to be in my mind. I wanted to spend quality time with patients, watching them grow and get better and be healed and you know, five ways to improve their health, et cetera. But it just was not the route for me.
Aiyana Davison (02:15): And so, um, honestly I was sitting down one day at a computer, like looking into what other professions I could do that would be helpful. And it was like, you know, those scenes where like the light comes down and you hear, that was literally my experience nurse. I hit the nursing tab and I was like, Whoa. And tobacco, like my grandmother was a nurse. Um, later on after she passed away, I found out she was actually a nurse midwife in the islands. Um, and then also, um, I have like, you know, several family members, her sister was a nurse. Um, another sister was a nurse. I had some like cousins, you know, so it's in the blood. I just was not hearing that for awhile. When it hit, it hit like full force and then all the doors flung open and it was like, it was confirmation that this was my path.
Aiyana Davison (03:05): This is where I'm supposed to be. You're in the direction you're supposed to be going. So that's how, um, I chose or nursing chose me, you know. And I say the same thing about midwifery. Um, my heart never changed in terms of like wanting to be in obstetrics or in that, that birth work care. Um, it, the modality or the, the Avenue towards it just changed which was midwifery and it matched more so in line with what I envisioned it looking like. So that's kind of where the nursing part came in. But you know, and I will say this too, I will always, you know, your advanced practice provider, whatever, you're still a nurse, like I will never ever like nursing is me, I am nursing, you know, and that is at the root of like um, my career and how I was trained and I cannot, I'm, I'm forever indebted and I'm grateful to the profession because it taught me so much and I've learned so much and opened so many doors and pathways. So yes, nursing.
Naseema McElroy (04:07): You know what? I always say that like once a nurse, always a nurse, like we are nurses like at the heart, like it's like, yeah, I'm Naseema. But yeah, I'm a nurse. Like those two things go hand in hand. And a lot of times people are like, you are not your job, but it's more than a job. It's more than a role. It is truly an identity. And so yeah, I feel you 100% so no matter what I do, even if I don't, if I never work a day at the bedside, I'm still going to be a nurse because it's the way that we think. It's the way that we interact. It's our identity. So yeah, I love that. And I also love that you talked about like being premed. At first I did not go as far as you, I was the same way and I thought, yeah, I'd be a doctor and he wouldn't be like, why don't you do nursing? I was like, why would you tell me that? Like, well you don't talk to me. I don't understand. I'm like stupid. Like I should did it when I was eighenn So silly. And it's like, yeah, mom is a nurse. The one who raised me picked me up from school everyday. She's a nurse. Like, why didn't I see this like, so I can totally relate to everything that you were saying, but like you said, nursing chose you girl, you got to get chose for real, for real.
Aiyana Davison (05:24): It's the truth. And I as much as I wish I had, I wish quote unquote, there's no regrets about that time. But um, as much as I would have loved to have started earlier, the pathway in the people that I've met, like I met my best, one of my first friends in nursing school. Like I can't change, you know, I wouldn't change this. This is the path that was for me and it might take longer than somebody else. And that's one of the points that I try to like, you know, hone in, you know, um, in different settings. I'm like, the path that you're on is specifically for you what it looks like for me. It's going to look totally different for you, you know, and that's okay. That's completely fine. You, you, it's, it's all about how it's going to shape you as a person and what's going to challenge you to do later on as well. So just let it happen.
Naseema McElroy (06:17): Yep. So, um, so now you're a nurse midwife. I'm working in Southern California, but not only that, you have this incredible platform, the Vagina Chronicles. Can you tell us how that got started?
Aiyana Davison (06:30): Ooh, I'm going to stop. I'm going to stop saying this. Mama say, this is when we, last time I said vagina Chronicle is the vagina. Chronicles happened by accident. I and honestly it's not by accident because again, these things are all, you know, they work towards our good. And, um, I'm a firm believer in that, but, um, it was really a result of me feeling like I had lost my voice. And so, um, I tell this story, you know, I went to go see "Death by Delivery". It's a documentary, uh, surrounding black maternal health and the crisis that we face in America. And it was, it's on PBS, like it's for free. People can go watch it. Um, I went and saw the screening at the California African American museum in downtown LA. And I went with the, um, a sister friend who's now actually a doula. And, um, she'd been doing before she, even before she got the title, but now she's trained. So, um, we went together, we're like, yeah, let's go see this. And you know, at the end there were asking some questions and talking about like, um, avenues for midwifery, um, how do we get more access for patients and listening to black women because that's, you know, and I shared some of my story, like I sit in front of these patients and people aren't listening to them. They'll tell somebody and then they're not heard. It goes tell somebody else, you know, and then it becomes, well, why is this person being so loud? Well, no one's listening to them. So, you know, what else, what other Avenue? What other way do you have to verbalize these things? So, um, so we went to see the screening and like something like, there was this, like this fire in me at the end of the night. And my friend who I went with had been telling me for a while, she's like, you need to like do a blog or something about your midwifery journey, blah, blah, blah. And I had been hashtagging hashtagging things in my, like my personal pages as the vagina Chronicles anyways, because like this is like my day to day, right? As a midwife. It is like vaginas. They're everywhere.
Naseema McElroy (08:31): It's our life. It's my life too. I'm vaginas every day, you know.
Aiyana Davison (08:34): All over the place. I mean, vaginas run the world. Like that's just how we are. But all that to say, um, you know, I created the page because also I was not seeing a lot of black midwives on social media and that was like, you know, like these people, patients and clients are looking for folks who will look like them.
Naseema McElroy (09:01): Um, and I'll speak to more about that later, but look like them, they can relate to and understand their, their, um, health concerns and their needs and also what it means to be black in America, bottom line. And so that's where that started and it kind of just propelled from there. And so, um, that's how essentially the vagina Chronicles got started. It was, um, a way to use my voice but also an and remind people of like who they are, um, the power that they have and then also provide this level of education. Cause there are some folks out there, you know, I was seeing a lot of that too. You sit in front of folks and they don't know what's going on with their parts. They don't know what it looks like. The definitions of terms. And this is, these are basic principles that can keep you healthy. They can either lead to a pregnancy, they could, you know, lead to infection if we're not careful, you know. So, um, so all of that, you know, wanting to, um, give a voice to folks that may not have one or support them in whatever decision they're trying to make. Empower people and educate. Like those are the kind of the foundations of where all that came from.
Naseema McElroy (10:16): Dang. I love it so much. So much stuff. Well, I'm, but you giving me chills, um, when you are talking about just, um, especially like black morbidity or mortality and um, that's a major issue that we're still facing as a country. Something that I have had to deal with, um, intimately unfortunately. Um, just in, in the PA in my patient care, um, experiences and it's so sad because it transcends all socioeconomic classes, but it affects black women like nothing else. Like it just like Serena Williams is someone that comes to mind, like just right off the top of my head. Like she had every resource available to her. She even had the white husband but it didn't help her.
Aiyana Davison (11:12): Yeah. That's the bottom line. Yeah. And it doesn't matter. You know, and they've gone into the statistics on this. It doesn't matter if you've got the highest level of education, your PhD, your master's level, whatever, doesn't matter if you are making bank. Like it does not matter. Like, and you know, um, as much as like you hear Serena Williams over and over, you have to really think about that situation and you, like you said it very clearly, like she's married to white man. Um, she has money, she knows her health condition. This is not somebody, it's not like, Oh, I'm just listening to whatever someone else tells me. And was like, no,
Aiyana Davison (11:54): I've had a history of blood clots before. I know what the symptoms are. And I've been schooled on this because this has happened before. Like, so she's very aware and still like yet and still at the desk making noise. She's not getting listened to. And there's a fundamental problem. Something's wrong systemically if this is happening. Right. So, yes, for sure. Black women are not heard and oftentimes not treated well. I mean, black people as a whole, you know.
Naseema McElroy (12:21): As a whole, as a whole. I had to whoride on, um, a doctor the other day because, uh, they wanted to diagnose my boyfriend with a cough when he came in there halfway dying. And I said, see, I'm gonna need you to do a little bit of basic differential diagnosis and know that he didn't come in here with a cough and I wouldn't send him here with the cough because unlike you, I know what I'm doing and I'm know what I'm looking at and I know when something is beyond my scope.
Naseema McElroy (12:44): So I'm in need you to take this a little bit more seriously. So it's always that having to check somebody. But the thing is is that oftentimes we're too scared to advocate and we're too scared to speak up in our professions because it's our livelihood. And a lot of people without that check aren't able to provide for their family. And so oftentimes we can't be fully a patient advocate. Like our role is because we are, um, we have economic, you know, said we have, you know, we don't have our money together. Basically, we ain't got our shit together. And, um, that gets in the way of the care we're able to provide. Um, and I've seen it over and over again. Um, like I said, I've experienced it firsthand. I often talk about a toxic environment and where I was seeing black women over and over again, not being listened to.
Naseema McElroy (13:45): And I'm going to give this one example and I never really share this story, um, because I usually try to keep it really general, but because we're speaking, I'm a little bit more specific in this podcast. So I had this patient, she had just moved to California from Atlanta, her third baby. She wanted to VBAC and I admitted her. And um, she um, well TOLAC she wanted to do a trial of labor after C-section and um, she very knowledgeable, very educated. Mmm. And you know, she, she knew what she wanted to do. So I admitted her. I went home, I came back from it like 12 hours later. And with her third baby, she was still in labor and I was her nurse. And, um, over the whole eight hour shift, she, um, like there was, there was obviously something wrong and I was telling the doctors and she was telling the doctor, I was like, Hey, there's something wrong.
Naseema McElroy (14:46): I've got her all prepped to go to the back. Whenever you're ready, let's go. She like, Oh, I'm having all this pain. Um, she had an epidural. I'm having all this pain. Something's not right. Like I just, you know what want to do with C-section? The doctor tells her, you know what? Now that you're having pain, you want to have a C-section. This is labor. Okay, this is what you've signed up for, so we are going to go, going to proceed, but if you really want to have a C-section, we'll do it at the change of shift. Okay. When everybody else comes in, so we'll do it then. And I was like, no, but like we really need to go right now. She's like, we're going to try to ship what, what control do, I can't roll it back into the or and do the procedure myself.
Naseema McElroy (15:32): I spoke up, I told her, I said, Hey, let's do it now. I ended up staying over for changes to shift and to do the C-section. And they were, I'm telling you like playing around like from door time to incision time was way too long. By the time we cut her open, the baby is hanging out of her uterus because of course she abrupted, you know, and it's just an example of people just not listening, not listening to, um, the patients, but also not listening to the nurses. And, um, that was like my breaking point where, you know what, I don't have to deal with this anymore, but I'm also in the position that I'm not afraid that by speaking up I'll lose my job. And so that's what I had to do in that situation and continue to do. Um, but a lot of people aren't there.
Naseema McElroy (16:28): And, um, the, one of the main reasons why I wanted to bring you on is to just highlight the fact that there is so much ish that happens in our careers. So many things that we, that we see. Um, but all of this is like one of my major why's as to why I want to be financially independent because I want to be able to speak up. I want to be able to walk away from a a work situation if it's not serving me and serving my patients, but be able to be the advocate that I know I can be without having the implication or having the fear of losing my job and my financial stability are hurting my family in doing so. And I know that there are so many people that are in that position. And so, um, I just want you to highlight the fact that yo, you're not tripping.
Aiyana Davison (17:24): No, you're not. And unfortunately the story, like the stories that you're telling, what story they told right now, that's one of many. That's one of several that have many that happened from the day to day. You know, there's this ingrained Mmm fear that has been placed in us and, um, just it's been, it's been placed in us from the time we got here. And when I say that, like from slavery. And so we fear what is going to happen to us if we speak up. And we see this in so many different, um, ways on a, on a daily basis, not just in healthcare, but it all, there's so many little microaggressions that happen on day to day basis as well. But we see this and we, we've been conditioned and this is everyone. This is not just black people though we've been conditioned to believe that whatever a doctor says, a provider says is gold. It's the truth. Um, there's nothing, you know, whatever they say goes. And I think what the beautiful part about midwifery and nursing is, is we're here to like kind of smash that like nurses, you know, and I love what you said about nurses, [inaudible] nurses, we spend time with patients and that, that was one of the things that really pushed me into nursing after doing that program.
Aiyana Davison (18:46): Seeing like, this is not what I thought it was going to be. Like, you know, I want to spend time with my patients. And what happens is if you go along the course of like a nurse, when they're, you have a teaching facility or even non teaching, you have these residents come in and they're like, Oh, so how do the patients do today and what's going on? They're gathering these little bits and pieces of information from you because you've been with the patient all day long for your whole 12, 16, whatever, eight, 10 hours. There's, you know, and so, um, I, I know as a provider, as a midwife, again, practice in a large teaching facility, I can't do my job without the nurses that I work with. Now, is everybody working for the same goal? That's a question you will have to ask when you go into the hospital space.
Aiyana Davison (19:38): But when you're working with people who have the best interest in the safety of a patient, and you know, in my case, a patient in their baby, in their family at heart, they're going to tell you what's up just like you did to this doctor who didn't listen. Like, you know, Hey, something's not right here. Doesn't feel good. And whether or not, you know, maybe we have to trust our guts because number one, because that's when we lead into that we're leaning into something that's already intrinsic in us saying some don't feel right and that's, you know, those things are in place for a reason. Right. Um, but if we're not listening to those things and not giving them opportunity and space for us to say critically think what's happening, what's going on, let me assess. Let me take a look. Let me, let me go put eyes on this patient.
Aiyana Davison (20:25): Um, we're losing touch with the humanity part and the personality part and the safety part, you know. Um, so I mean you, you hit it on the money here, on the money. Um, literally, um, and you'll finances play into this too. But going back to that fear part, we believe what the doctor, what the provider said is, is gold and we don't question it. And we don't walk into these spaces without someone with us. And I'm not saying you have to be with somebody who knows textbook medicine, you know, to the T you just need someone there to support. Because sometimes in situations you hear one thing, especially when you get nervous, anxious or you hear one bad little thing, then your mind starts spiraling and you need that person to hear and listen. But also sometimes to speak and ask questions. Things that you might not have thought about before.
Aiyana Davison (21:18): I would say in the last, this is a on a personal side, in the last six months, I've had at least three or four people that I know personally who have been in the hospital space, black people, and one of them was a very close friend. Well, several of them were critical, but um, you know, some, she didn't feel like something was right. This is somebody who was also in the nursing profession. Something wasn't right and she went in, they treated her, you know, Oh, this is what it is, that dah, dah, dah. Went home. She's like, I still am not, something's not sitting well. I'm not doing, my body's not doing what it's supposed to be doing. She, she's knowledgeable. She's also an advanced practice provider. She knows something's not, you know, and I was like, well, did they do any like labs that they do in the image?
Aiyana Davison (22:02): And she's like, no. I was like, okay, you want where you're going back in? Okay, cool. I'll meet you there. Right. And so, you know, sometimes you have to, I always say on my page, flip a table hard. And it's not, it's not the point of getting violent. It's the point of speaking up so that, or causing a scene so that people understand where you're coming from. You're not listening to me and guess what? I'm not dying on your watch, so do whatever you got to do. You know? And in that point, we ended up calling, um, uh, a family member who actually was like, they did what? They didn't do this and didn't do that. He was like, you know what? Don't worry about it. Leave I'm, I'm gonna do this, this, and this for you. And this is, you know, eventually she got the correct treatment.
Aiyana Davison (22:53): But these are again, people going in hearing what someone has to tell them about themselves, you know, your body. And it's up to us to, to start paying attention to that as well. Um, to speak to the finance part of things. Um, we really, it's difficult for us because again, with this ingrained fear, we, and also how we're instant, you know, the institution works as a whole. We, um, we're not set up for success and we don't set ourselves up for success because that's all we know. And until we break that, you know, in our financial independence, um, and gaining wealth in various ways, we are left in this place where we can't do more for ourselves, our families, our bodies, et cetera. So, you know, the simple act of like hiring a doula to go in with you, someone who was knowledgeable about, um, birth and the birthing process and pregnancy, postpartum, breastfeeding, all of these things.
Aiyana Davison (23:57): Um, this is a, uh, a valuable resource. So a doula is like a coach, but also this person who can come and do all these things. Um, but if you can't afford one or you don't know about it, you're, you're limited taking yourself when you go into the hospital space, you know? Um, and there are some things changing. The state of California, I know, um, and I know Massachusetts only because I born and raised there, so I've kind of keep up with a few of the things there. But, um, they are at this point in time, um, getting funding for, um, doulas to people who can't afford them. Um, the other thing too is doing your research because there are doulas who will work on a sliding scale. You go to the South, doulas will work with the bartering system. Like, well, you can't pay me.
Aiyana Davison (24:45): I mean, let's not take it crazy because they still have a livelihood to maintain, but Oh, maybe you can't pay, um, this, this bill, but you can watch my kids or you can, you know, help me when I have to go do a certain service for somebody, you know. So there are ways in which it can get done, but if we're limited in our knowledge and we're oppressed to this, this, um, system and to this space that has been created for us and we've been kept in, then how do we evolve over time? How do we change and break the things that are keeping us back? You know?
Naseema McElroy (25:23): Yes. Oh, it makes total, it makes total sense. But I, I mean, and I see like you, like you brilliantly demonstrated is on both sides. Okay. It's, um, our financial, our finances and the power that we can have over, um, the care that we receive or the care that we deliver is on both sides because we're going to be a patient in this situation. I became a patient too when wasn't heard and wasn't listened to. And, um, you know, if I wasn't in a strong financial position that could have affected me. And so, um, yeah, and I love the doula example. Um, there are volunteer doulas out there too, just there. There are hospitals that do provide volunteer doulas, but I think that, um, overall I'm scared for black people in general to, to, um, experience anything, um, outpatient medicine, inpatient medicine, um, labor and delivery without an advocate.
Naseema McElroy (26:24): Right, right. Without an advocate. And, um, without having the ma. And you know, my boyfriend jokingly said, but he was like, insurance companies, our hospitals need to pay for somebody to be in here to advocate for you because if you hadn't been in here, she straight up just lot of fun. The stayed up like lie, say it. He, she, she offered him a x-ray. It didn't, but he was like, but she just straight up lie and wasn't gonna say nothing until you called her out. So like that should be mandatory, you know? And so yes, I think it should be mandatory, but in the meantime, the best investment that we can make is in our education is an empower, empowering ourselves. But just like you have like in sharing your story and sharing your experiences and, um, just getting things out there so people know, first of all, people know I'm not tripping this, this really did to me.
Naseema McElroy (27:26): Cause there's so much power in, in understanding that, um, like, you know, people can be like, Oh, that's fear mongering telling people how many black women die in, in, in labor and delivery. You're just getting people mad, you know? Uh, no, it's about knowing what you're getting into so you can prepare for that. And it's also about knowing will tools, um, or, or just knowing that you're not tripping. There's a lot to be said and, and, and feeling heard and being seen and then being able to take action in that. Because sometimes when we don't know what we don't know, we're in a dangerous situation. We're putting ourselves in a dangerous situation. And that's why I love your platform. I love what you're doing. I love how you're inspiring people to just learn just the basics about, um, themselves, but also how to speak up and giving people the words to be able to use in certain situations and just to make people aware of what's going on. We were talking offline about the Lewis show and about how people were coming after. Um, no, it's hard for me to say it was this, my cousin, so Leslie, who's the mom of the family having her fifth child, they were coming after her uterus, you know, just because she decided to have a big family. Now you see Mormons around here. What hella kids and don't nobody come after them. But the first time like you see a black woman with more than a couple of kids, you have all kinds of questions.
Aiyana Davison (29:10): Wow. Like come out of my pockets and you know, sometimes, you know, sometimes it comes as a joke like, Oh, you're going to have anymore, we need to stop doing this. Okay. I'll speak to myself included because I'll, you know, from time to time I have to catch myself. Like that's not my, that's not my business. But like come out of people's pockets, you don't know their financial situation, you don't know their level of preparedness. You don't know like what their plans, where are you? Are you in the bed with them at nighttime when they have their pillows talk? No. So come out of their base. It's not your place for any of that. And then there's that privilege, the white privilege that you know, they feel, um, that they're allowed to save these things. No, not at all. This has nothing to do with you.
Aiyana Davison (29:59): Um, how many kids someone has or doesn't have, you know, you never know. Oh, why don't you have any children? I encourage people if they have the boldness and if they've experienced loss, speak up and say it because you just shut down to this culture of asking people about things that don't concern them. So, Oh, I, I've had two miscarriages and that's why I don't, you know, or I lost my uterus trying to have a baby. Like, you know, that's why. Do you have any other questions or, yes, I'm having another child. Are you planning to donate to the diaper fund? Are you going to be donating to their college tuition? Like the, the level of, in someone else's business needs to stop. Like it just needs to stop. And so you don't know someone's situation. It's, it's just not, it's not your place to have any of that.
Aiyana Davison (30:48): Um, I do want to go back to something you did say though about the fear. Um, no about knowing Mmm. What you're walking into when you get into the hospital and you know, for a while, you know, I was, you know, posting like these rapes and this is what's happening in the hospital system because it has to get out there. And some people still don't know. But, um, I think someone had messaged me and said, you know, is, or I maybe I saw it on a post somewhere saying like, you know, it's getting, it's getting tiresome and anxiety provoking to hear this over and over, which is true. Like, you know, I want as much as I want you to be informed about the statistics and what's happening and the danger levels and the, and what happens when you go into the hospital. Um, and you don't have the support that you need.
Aiyana Davison (31:36): I also want you to know that we are successful in birth. We can have these beautiful black births with healthy family, healthy babies, healthy breastfeeding. We do it because a lot of the world thinks that, Oh we don't, you know, we can do all of these things when we go in there. So it's not only my priority, my obligation, my prideful obligation, obligation cause I want to do this, but it's my, it's not only my goal to do that, but, and let you know about what's happening and the dangers around it. It's also my, I take pride in letting you know what birth is. Beautiful black, successful birth can happen. And when advocacy happens, like even when there is something, these near misses or when it's caught, that is an amazing thing too. And I have stories surrounding that as a nurse as well. Covering someone for a lunch break once this effort, this one black patient, she's like, I've been in pain all day.
Aiyana Davison (32:35): My abdomen hurt, had a C-section. Um, she's like day two, like shouldn't be, shouldn't be feeling this way. Wasn't moving. And her family was in there. Talk about, yeah, she just meant in the bed. They just keep giving me Norco. Like I'm like, you know, it keeps going on and not yet. So you know, you then Norco, that's, that's something that's gonna mask your pain. Dissipated. Like, you know, the gut has a lot of work to do after a C-section. Um, but like her abdomen. So I'm like, I'm pulling out this tape measure, like we're going to measure this and dah, dah, dah, and here's, here's the power of what you can do as an advocate. And I'm using my example because it's me. This is what I know, right? And I've seen it happen with other nurses as well. When you establish a rapport with a doctor and you, they know who you are, they know your about business then, then you're not here to play any games.
Aiyana Davison (33:30): When stuff come back us, it goes down and you call them because again, to what people might not know is sometimes postpartum there's a stigma of it being like, Oh they're fine. Whatever. It's like a joke, you know, they just call on me for the coal lays, they call me for the ibuprofen. We had to take these things seriously. Critical events can happen in the postpartum timeframe. So you know, blood clots can happen, hemorrhaging can happen, you know, um, pre postpartum preeclampsia can happen too. So we need to be mindful. Just because I had the baby doesn't mean we're out of this clear zone. You're an now in this somewhat of a fragile state because of all the things that have happened. I can get into the physiology, but too, but all that, I'm pulling out this tape measure on this girl. I was like, Oh no, we're going to try to get you up.
Aiyana Davison (34:22): I couldn't even get her up out of the bed, could not even get her up cause of the pain she was in. So I'm calling this doctor and I'm like, you guys need to come look at it. And this is, you know, they, they know me. So we get a chance to sit down and talk to these docs. And when you have this rapport with people as a black person, because again, you're not listened to even though you work in the system, but when you have the rapport between people and they understand and know who you are, your voice is heard again. So I say, please come and look. They're coming to look. And if you didn't hear me the first time, you're going to hear me a second. You hear me a second? Oh, well let's go talk to your attending. Let me bring in the big dog.
Aiyana Davison (35:00): Come to find out the next soul. I'm covering somebody for this shift. The next day I actually go back to see the patient. She was so indebted and grateful for me speaking up for her on her behalf because she's telling me this other nurse about stuff and it wasn't being heard and I was like, we need, you need to, the Norco is not gonna work for you because something else was going on and slow imaging happen. All this stuff. They were able to make sure whatever happened is a long time ago. So I don't remember details, but um, whatever they needed to do got done. And the patient, she didn't leave that next day, but the following day, but she was at a place where she shouldn't be in her. And so recognizing these warning signs, all that stuff, again, it's important to know what can happen. That's a real, it's scary. It's exciting provoking. Might make you nervous to deliver in a hospital. I get it. But at the same time too, please understand there are people out there who can help you. You got to sniff them out like your, your spidey senses, those vibes, those, those aren't going to steer you wrong, you know, and also bring somebody in. I'm not saying like, I'm not saying bring your whole family in.
Aiyana Davison (36:12): I'm not saying bring the whole family cause that's one thing. But like I'm not saying bring the whole family in just to be there. I'm saying bring somebody in. They're specifically designed to make sure that whatever happens to you, they're looking at, they're washing, they're asking questions, they're thinking about things that maybe you aren't because you're in the state that you're just not, you're not completely yourself. You know, you're going through something that need somebody else's voice in an ears, you know? So those are the, if I, if you don't take any away anything else, it's that while these things do go down, there is, there are successful, healthy, happy families, good quality care that does happen in the hospital just as less. Okay. Yes, I know. Because it can seem like we're like, this is like, dude ain't going to the hospital have a baby at a, you just don't know. But now what we're trying to make you aware of is just like the, you know, it does happen, but we, you need to be aware but also be prepared and that's it.
Aiyana Davison (37:31): Your pregnancy doesn't start your, your family doesn't start, you know, the day you guys have sex or the year that you, the year that you decide you want to have a baby, it begins way before then. And I think that's what I want people to take away to like, you know, again, where do you plan to deliver? Do you plan to the hospital? Do you plan to deliver at home? Cause that's a different expense. And guess what? Insurance isn't covering most of it. You might be lucky and get some coverage, but you're not getting all of that. Are you prepared to pay $8,000 for a home birth? Like, or you, are you prepared to make a sacrifice so that you can get these funds? Are you prepared to have a doula, you know, like are you prepared for these things? That's fine. This is, okay. So you're in the hospital.
Aiyana Davison (38:17): Are you prepared for the disability time when we take you off at 36 weeks or are you planning to work until you go into labor, which we can't tell you when that's going to happen. Um, are you prepared for preterm birth? What happens if your deliver early and your baby has to go to the NICU? You know, God forbid all this, but, um, these are the things that we have to be thinking about. And not only that and a lot, a lot of things around like nutrition and health. That's important too. Cause what you do in your twenties or whatever in your teenage years will most certainly affect you when you go to have a baby later on in life. Um, are you, are you eating on a level that your cells are going to be rejuvenated? And I'm talking to myself here cause I have a lot of, I, we all do.
Aiyana Davison (39:01): And so, so you are not alone, right? You're not alone in this. Like there I recognize things about myself that have to change. But like what are you doing to make the change so that when the time comes, if you're planning to have children, even if you're not planning to have children either, let's think about health in general. If you're planning to live a long life, which I don't know anybody who's not, but if you're planning to live a life where you can experience these different things, what are you doing early on to prepare for that? And I want people to be aware of that too. So many different levels to think about. So many, and.
Naseema McElroy (39:38): I think that that's, that translates into every area of life, not just your health, but in your finances and everything. If you got look, stay ready so you don't have to get ready with the platform, vagina Chronicles. Um, what has that done for you in your career as a midwife?
Aiyana Davison (40:06): That I have never even anticipated or expected. Um, so my, my close circle is like, you got to cash in these receipts. We're talking about, you know, we celebrate the small wins. We've been talking about that lately and it's like, you know, as much as cause there's just this very real thing called imposter syndrome, you know, where you, you question in like, am I really worthy or deserving of all the, or this really happening. Um, but um, it, through the vagina Chronicles, um, there have been a lot of speaking engagements, podcasts, you know, um, opportunities to meet with people. The thing that I have probably been the most amazed by and feel the most love about is connecting with other black midwives, connecting with other midwives on a whole, but other black midwives. It's just been like, you know, I've met so many different people and then hearing people's stories, um, you know, as much as, you know, again, going back to the repeating the statistics of what's happening, like black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth or more likely to have like co-morbidities or those near misses when they're in childbirth.
Aiyana Davison (41:17): Um, the stories that I'm hearing, you know, when you get people together and talk about their birth stories or the healthcare stories, they're feeling as well. So, you know, I get, I hear a lot from folks who are sharing their, their stories and nurses too, who talk about how do I make effective in my institution? What do I do when I see blatant racism happening within the healthcare system? You know? Um, and so the vagina Chronicles has, has given me a gift and honestly out, like I said, accidental but not really. Um, I, all I wanted from it was for my voice to be heard so that somebody could be helped. Um, and all I wanted out of it was for people to be inspired and then also to make changes. So that they're educated about themselves and their bodies, you know, and feeling empowered.
Aiyana Davison (42:11): There's so much shame or surrounding, you know, women, vaginas and black people. There's so much shame. And so, so out of all of this, um, I've received so much and so I'm looking for more ways. And this first quarter I've made some moves and we're going to head into the second, but I'm looking for more ways to give back or to, you know, send to those people like a thanks. And so I'll be getting more into that and I'm just diving into, again, like I said, more speaking engagements. Um, I've had the opportunity to talk to teens, which is like a passion of mine too. Um, teen pregnancy used to be a really big deal to me and I mean it still is, but more so now is the education of like safe sex, consensual sex, um, knowing your body and knowing there's power in what you have, especially as a young black girl, um, young, young people of color, they need to know like how much power they hold and that they get to like determine what works for them and what does it.
Aiyana Davison (43:14): So, um, as team I, like I said, teen pregnancy is really important to me and at the core of things. Now, education before the pregnancy happens again, like I said, this preparedness, you know, thinking about finances, all this stuff, period, health, all of that, it's become so important, so important for me. Yeah, it's done for me.
Naseema McElroy (43:36): But most importantly, it's just giving you an opportunity to. go beyond the bedside, go beyond your care and really be able to share your experience and your stories to impact others. And that's what, you know, why this podcast exists largely is to show nurses what's possible, what's possible for them. Because every one of you guys out there listening is deserving. Every one of you guys have something to share that can impact others and you never know where that can take you. So I met Aiyana at a retreat in Mexico that was the result of just both of us speaking out and sharing our stories and just building these platforms. You know, that didn't start, that had very humble beginnings, but has accelerated us and put us in these rooms where we learned this term there that has forced us to have these accelerated collisions with people that we aspire to. And so that's what being fully in yourself getting your shit together, whether it be financial, whether it be just investing in yourself, allows you to do it, forces you to have those accelerated collisions with people who you aspire to. And so I really wanted to have Aiyana here because I wanted to show each and every one of you that you have what is haze. You have a voice, you have the power to not only affect the lives of others, but to transform your own life through your experiences. And, um, through what, what, what you have to, to share with the world. And so I appreciate you Aiyana for what you do. I love and I follow everything. [inaudible] and thank you for having the courage to speak up and to give women a voice that, um, that's so, so, so desperately needed, but also to cover things that people didn't even know they needed.
Aiyana Davison (45:56): Yeah. It's opened up a whole new world. And I'm so just as much as like I hear the things, I'm so appreciative of the people who are there listening. Like, you don't have to, you don't you, but you're here. And then, you know, not only that, if you listen and take with you and spread, you know, the information that, you know, look how much more it can influence, change and affect change in our world, you know? So thank you so much for having me.
Naseema McElroy (46:26): Of course. So where can people connect with you?
Aiyana Davison (46:30): Um, people can connect with me on Instagram at the vagina Chronicles. That's my, uh, name. And then I'm on sweater. Very rarely, but I believe that's the badge Chronicles and hit Twitter as a hydrograph. Yeah. I'm not a hater. It's just like time, you know, times I'm done. Um, and then I will have a website, um, the, thevaginachronicles.org. So, um, please go on there. I try to post at least twice a month, some newsletters. Um, there'll be some more things coming. Um, I let folks know about upcoming events where I'll be speaking, um, and they can contact me if they want to get in touch for, you know, lectures, webinars, et cetera, whatever, whatever's in the works for us. Um, but those are the places where they can reach me.
Naseema McElroy (47:22): I love it. Thank you again, Aiyana, for sharing your platform with us for sharing your story and your experiences. It is so appreciated.
Aiyana Davison (47:31): Thank you. I appreciate you too.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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