02/28/2024
Nicole Deggins, CNM, MSN, MPH
"Nicole Deggins is one of the country’s leading birth advocacy experts named “The Midwife Shifting the Narrative” by ESSENCE Magazine. She is a sought-after trainer, public speaker and community educator working to eliminate perinatal disparities and bring transparency to prenatal education and the medical obstetrical system. Nicole provides education, training and consultations for communities, birth workers and organizations that work with childbearing families. She is a dedicated leader, mentor, and consultant and actively supports efforts to increase the numbers of African American midwives, doulas, and birth advocates. She believes that this is a critical step in eliminating the perinatal disparities that plague the African American community.
As Chief Visionary Officer (CVO) of SMP, Nicole is the creator of the Sista Midwife Birth Sister training, the Louisiana Healthy Birth Ambassador perinatal community health worker training, and the creator of the largest online Black Midwife and Doula Directories. In addition to her training and community work, Nicole is a founding member of the Louisiana Doula Registry Board and has spent time as a member of the Louisiana Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review Committee, the Louisiana Healthy Moms Healthy Babies Council, and as faculty for the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative.
With nearly thirty years of experience working inside the medical obstetrical system, Nicole’s views and style of training are radically different. Her combination of real life experiences, combined with her vivid storytelling, her willingness to share “insider secrets” and her unprecedented passion, allow her to connect with her students and her speaking audiences in a full and unique way. Nicole uses a powerful delivery style to inspire individuals toward a paradigm shift about birth and birth justice. She believes that Birth is the Revolution and if we collectively begin to change how we birth, and how we support each other during childbearing, we can literally heal ourselves and our communities.
Nicole has provided guest lectures at Tulane, Xavier and Columbia Universities and the University of Texas at Austin. She has presented numerous key notes and customized trainings and has provided consultation to many local and national agencies and institutions including the New Orleans Maternal Child Health Coalition, AMCHP, the Global Infant Safe Sleep Center, the Louisiana Department of Health, Baby 1st Network, NICHQ, AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, Humana Healthy Horizons, Birthmark Doula Collective, Healthy Start and more.
Nicole has received numerous awards and recognition including Emory University’s Alumni Association’s Distinguished Nursing Achievement Award, the New Orleans Young Leadership Council’s Role Model Award, The ACAP Supporting the Safety Net Award and the Distinguished 400 Award.
Prior to starting her work with Sista Midwife Productions, Nicole received her BS in Nursing from Georgetown University, and completed a dual degree program at Emory University where she fulfilled the requirements for the MS in Nursing with a concentration in midwifery, and an MPH with a concentration in Health Policy and Management. During her clinical career, Nicole practiced as a midwife in Washington DC, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and has worked as a labor and delivery, postpartum and well-baby/newborn nurse in numerous public and private settings throughout the country."
