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We are so pleased to introduce Shaunté Truick, a student midwife at SUNY Downstate, as the recipient of our third Black Birthworker scholar. We were impressed by Shaunté’s commitment to her community and feel so honored to support her in her journey to become a Midwife!

Shaunté Truck, student midwife and Eddy Rose scholar

My name is Shaunté Truick and I’m a Midwifery student at SUNY Downstate Health Science University. I sincerely thank the International Medical Response team for this pivotal moment, granting me this opportunity to receive this scholarship, as it will tremendously help me further my education and goals in health care. I am currently a birth/postpartum doula supporting birthing people throughout their pregnancy, labor/delivery, and postpartum journey across the tri-state area. As a future homebirth midwife, this scholarship will allow me to distill my knowledge, bring awareness to my community, and infuse the essence of autonomous birthing experiences to my patients. This moment will always remain a pillar, which will further catapult my quest for knowledge in this field. With much appreciation, humility, and grace, I thank you for aiding my vision.

Maternal healthcare in the United States has seen a crisis over the last two decades with pregnancy-related mortality rate steadily inclining. While maternal death rates around the world have dropped by more than a third from 2000 to 2015, the rates in the United States has more than doubled since 1987. According to data from CDC, significant racial disparity in pregnancy-related mortality contributes to the increased rate. Between 2011-2016, Black women were 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women. The maternal mortality rate for Black women during that same period was 42.4 per 100,000-- worse than 85 other countries around the globe.

 A solution to this epidemic must be multipronged, however we believe that one of the ways to decrease the disparity is by supporting more Black individuals who are committed to caring for birthing people. We have chosen future midwives and doulas as the focus of this scholarship because we believe that these two groups of birthworkers have the potential to majorly impact the outcomes of pregnant people. Studies show that when cared for by a midwife, women are less likely to deliver by Cesarean Section, a surgical procedure that can increase a person’s risk of hemorrhage, infection, blood clots and other surgical complications. It has also been shown that for people whose labors are attended by doulas (a person who provides emotional and physical support during labor, birth, and postpartum period), they were more likely to have spontaneous vaginal birth and less likely to require pain medication including epidurals.

 While we know that midwives and doulas can have a positive impact on birthing people, it is also evident that the community of birthworkers is currently overwhelmingly white. For example, according to the 2019 Demographic Report by the American Midwifery Certification Board, 86.9% of Certified Midwives (CM) and Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM) in the United States identified as White or Caucasian and 6.31% as Black or African American. Black birthing people deserve to have access to care-providers from their communities. Our hope is that by offering this scholarship, it will decrease some of the financial barriers put upon Black students who desire to enter the profession.

Shaunté received $10,000 to support her Midwifery education through IMR’s Eddy Rose Scholarship Program. Please consider making a contribution to IMR so we can continue to award future birthworkers like Shaunté!

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