About Us

Mandesa M. Smith, DNP, CNM is a maternity healthcare consultant that has been caring for childbearing persons since 2012.  Her background in nursing began with caring for intrapartum and postpartum families within a tertiary care community hospital.

Dr. Smith graduated with a Master of Science Nursing-Midwifery from East Carolina University (ECU) in 2015.  She practiced full-scope midwifery in a free-standing birth center for three years caring for low risk families. Then she transitioned to a midwife hospitalist position at a rural community hospital with a high risk obstetric population.  Dr. Smith currently works at this location and is part of a team that focuses on increasing breastfeeding rates amongst the population. 

In 2017 Dr. Smith graduated with her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from ECU. This is where she learned how to implement a quality improvement project.  Her project focused on  clients that screened positive for Group B Streptococcus(GBS) during pregnancy in a birth center setting.  Her goal was to increase the percent of GBS positive clients that received sufficient GBS prophylaxis during labor, which she accomplished. 

Dr. Smith has also been an active participant within her professional organization.   She has been a member of the American College of Nurse-Midwives’ Program Committee (PC) since 2016.  She was appointed the PC Chair-Elect in 2018 and became the PC Chair for a two year term that started in 2019.  

With her experience in Women’s Health, quality improvement and leadership, Mandesa M. Smith, DNP,CNM plans to use her skills to empower families and educate colleagues.   Dr. Smith believes the health and well-being of childbearing persons and their babies must be a priority, especially those of color who have exponentially higher rates of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.  We have an obligation to ourselves and the people we serve.

CERTIFICATIONS

● Licensed Registered Nurse

● Board Certified Nurse-Midwife

● Endometrial biopsy

● Midwife as Surgical First Assistant at Cesarean

● NRP instructor

EDUCATION

● Bachelor of Science Biological Sciences

● Bachelor of Science Plant Biology

● Master of Science Nurse-Midwifery

 ● Doctor of Nursing Practice

MEMBERSHIPS/ASSOCIATIONS

● American College of Nurse Midwives(ACNM)

● American Midwifery Certification Board (AMBC)

Swiyyah is a maternity healthcare consultant that is passionate about improving the maternity care experience and decreasing poor obstetric and neonatal outcomes. As a former travel nurse, Swiyyah has unique first-hand experience of how organizational processes can positively or negatively affect patient outcomes.  

Her background in nursing and midwifery includes community hospitals, private practice, rural public health and a freestanding birth center. She has worked in many cities throughout North Carolina and Georgia. 

Swiyyah has been a registered nurse since 2013. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Winston-Salem State University and her Master’s of Science in Nurse-Midwifery from Frontier Nursing University in 2019.  She currently provides full-scope midwifery care to both rural and underserved populations in North Carolina.  

During the Covid- 19 pandemic Swiyyah began offering  virtual childbirth education courses to families so that they could continue to have access to comprehensive education that is needed to prepare them for the birth process and beyond. Swiyyah is affiliated with the Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood which provides community workshops aimed at providing families with tools to help them to communicate effectively and advocate for themselves to have safer birth outcomes. 

As a maternity healthcare consultant, Swiyyah’s desire is to collaborate with healthcare professionals and families to deliver evidence-based quality process improvements that will not only decrease poor maternal and fetal outcomes, but also improve the maternal care experience. 

CERTIFICATIONS

● Licensed Registered Nurse

● Board Certified Nurse Midwife

● NRP Instructor

EDUCATION

● Bachelor’s Degree Nursing

● Master’s Degree Nurse-Midwifery 

MEMBERSHIPS/ASSOCIATIONS

● American Midwifery Certification Board (AMBC)

● Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood

● American Academy of Pediatrics