Name
Bianca Nash-Miot
Company/Organization
Birth Queens and Milk Queens
What Does Your Company/Organization Do?
Birth Queens and Milk Queens aims to provide families in Southwest Michigan with birth and postpartum doula services, lactation counselor services, breastfeeding education, car seat safety education, safe sleep education and childbirth education. Each of these services can be provided in person or virtually. We seek to prepare families fully for a successful pregnancy and early childhood journey by equipping parents and caregivers with the knowledge and skill to be successful. In addition to working with families we aim to provide professionals with the basic skills necessary to help every pregnant and breastfeeding person they service.
*80-90 maternal deaths occur each year in Michigan.
Nearly 50 percent of pregnancy-related maternal deaths are preventable. Disparities in maternal mortality exist by race, age, and education level.
Age
31
Accomplishments
In 2020 I partnered with United Way of Southwest Michigan during their Advocacy for Mothers program and helped to raise $12.6 Million dollars from the State of Michigan for The Healthy moms Healthy Babies program. In the same year I also received a five-thousand dollar grant from CARES of Southwest Michigan which allowed me to provide families with virtual lactation support and supplies during a time when hospital lactation consultants were furloughed and families were being sent home from the hospital without adequate care and education. In 2021 I partnered with Southwest Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative to pilot a breastfeeding course that would provide families with a 2 hour breastfeeding education course and pay them a $25-stipend for their time and attendance.
I am currently working to help HOPE Teen Resource Center in South Haven pilot a Doula program for teen moms who could benefit from more support during their delivery experience. This year I was awarded a ten-thousand dollar grant from Michigan Breastfeeding Network to work with childcare facilities in Southwest Michigan on pace feeding as a protective factor for breastfeeding mothers who are returning to work. I am also involved with several committees and originations to ensure that I am doing my best and giving my all to my community and giving a voice to families living in rural southwest Michigan. Some of these committees include:
- Michigan’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee
- Southwest Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Committee
- Healthy Moms and Healthy Babies of Van Buren County
- Council against child abuse and neglect of Van Buren Co.
- Great Start Parent Coalition (Parent Rep)
- Michigan Breastfeeding Network
- Michigan Breastfeeding Plan Advisory Board.
What else do you hope to accomplish by the age of 40?
By the age of 40 I hope to open a Mobile Lactation Clinic to service all of Southwest Michigan and allow mothers in every community have access to the lactation and support they deserve. I also plan to create a sustainable way more lactation professionals of color can become licensed and support their communities. In addition to these, I would like to change the face and delivery of lactation and postpartum care within Southwest Michigan.
Education
- Certification Lactation Counselor
- Birth Dolua/ Postpartum Doula
- Midwife assistant
- Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician
Residence
Covert, Michigan
Where were you born?
Berrien Springs, Mi
What was your first job?
McDonald’s in South Haven, Mi.
Best advice you ever got?
No matter what, keep trusting God, and everything will work out.
Who inspires you most?
My Mother has been a huge inspiration for me.
That one thing about you we’d be most surprised to learn.
I am a huge Star Wars fan.
What do you love to do in your downtime?
I adore plants and own over 50 house plants which have become like children to me.
What book are you reading now?
Lactation specific books
Volunteer activity you love the most.
Working within my church and helping those in need.
What motivates you to give back to your community?
My life experience motivates me to change the narrative so that no other mom has to experience what I experienced after having my children.
What Superpower would you most love to have?
The power to heal.
What has been the most eye-opening thing about the coronavirus pandemic for you, personally?
For me it was very eye opening and blatant that black and brown people disproportionately receive a lower standard and quality of care compared to their counterparts. While this was something I knew previously, COVID-19 highlighted and put in on the forefront for our country to see.
What does the honor of being named to the 40 Under 40 most mean to you?
Being named as one of the 40 Under 40 is a huge honor for me. It means to me that the work that I am doing is having an effect on the communities that I love the most.
