Fighting the Medical Industrial Complex

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The Midwife (and Doctorate) Fighting the Medical Industrial Complex

Dr. Stephanie Mitchell has raised over $100,000 to create the first free-standing birth center in Alabama. The state ranks third from the bottom for the worst outcomes in the entire U.S. She holds multiple higher degrees and licenses, but the state is still forcing her to go back to school. WTF?! Her story is a microcosm of all that is wrong with our systems. She is a role model of all that is right in overcoming and changing shit up.

Dr. Stephanie Mitchell is a certified nurse midwife, the Founder of Birth Sanctuary Gainesville in Gainesville, Alabama and received her Postgraduate DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) from Frontier Nursing University where her Capstone was Intermittent Auscultation as the Standard of Care for Low-risk People in Labor. Prior to the development of Birth Sanctuary Gainesville, Stephanie worked in Boston Massachusetts and Providence Rhode Island in a full-scope collaborative OB-GYN/Midwifery and academic practices.

Dr. Mitchell is credited with the development and implementation of an intermittent Auscultation checklist to assist hospitals in identifying low-risk laboring individuals. She has past experience working as a labor and delivery nurse, and pediatric nurse.

In her spare time, you can find Stephanie, vlogging, blogging, and outside of a pandemic, traveling near and far to expand her zest for unique food experiences. You may also find Stephanie concocting ways to keep her bathroom clean, as she is an avid collector of cleaning supplies, to which she manages to keep her 4 children and husband from living in squalor.


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What We Cover:

00.52 - Gina and Tara swap spit and we get introduced to the cold coffee morning routine.

4:10 - Meet Dr. Stephanie Mitchell, Doctorate AND Midwife (NBD). Oh, and also, you can thank her for the ubiquitous "Birth Preferences."

6:57 - On making your photo a black square...or green square... on social media.

11:38 - The precipice of the reproductive and maternal medicine nightmare and the uncomfortable conversations that must be had.

13:42 - According to the state of Alabama, those green and black squares on social, are racist.

15:23 - The importance of knowing "who's in the room" and leaning into curiosity.

16:10 - They fucked around and gave us the internet: On building real community, digitally.

18:04 - On the success of raising money.

19:40 - Getting birth centers on every corner.

20:53 - Alabama's first free-standing birth center...guess who's building it?!

23:29 - Why the birth center will provide housing for student midwives.

25:22 - When everyone is in love with your husband...

27:17 - Pulling it all off with 4 kids and ya know...life. How do you rally?!

28:36 - Becoming a mother at 16; Flip into high gear and fucking learn to swim.

30:37 - How failed systems make it so that raising money is a forever process.

32:50 - The pissing match: CPM vs. CNM vs. CM.

38:47 - Abolishing the certifying bodies.

41:33 - The power of human capital- work your strengths.

43:07 - Getting in with the parents.

48:19 - On Beyonce...

48:58 - Hilary Duff and her birth pool.

50:09 - If only birth disparities were as important as penis atrophy...

51:03 - How to support Dr. Mitchell's incredible work.

54:00 - The spinner game: When was the first time you had sex and what did you wish you knew beforehand?

Resources + Cont. Learning:

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Gina Giordano