Abina Clarke

347-444-4680

Clarkea30@nychhc.org

About

I decided early this year that I wanted to do something to effect change in the care minority women receive. I felt the pull greater after researching and viewing stories of the grim realities of Black maternal disparities in my state of New York, and in many other states around the U.S. I began to recollect on a childhood vision I had of helping to birth babies as a profession. I am certainly influenced by my humble upbringing by my parents who were Registered Nurses in Guyana, my birth country. My father actually delivered me and one of my sisters at home in Guyana. My mother was a trained Midwife.

So I was certainly exposed to other ways of birthing besides in a hospital. In recent news there has been countless stories of minority women having devastating experiences along their maternal journey. When I researched in depth, I saw that I could begin to educate myself on how to effect a positive change for my own community. I stumbled upon Doula work and noticed it is as old as time; and I am now answering the call to be a Birth Worker out of necessity.