Dani Wallace, one of three Black doulas in Kern County, shares her journey and struggles in maternal health. Her experience with losing her son Jeremiah due to misdiagnosis fueled her advocacy for women of color. Wallace suffere d from hyperemesis gravidarum but was not properly diagnosed until she conducted her own research. She now supports other mothers like Treana Adams, who faced pressure for unnecessary C-sections.BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT: With the health care disparities in the health care industry, one Doula is making sure women of color are supported and heard through her work. Dani Wallace expresses gratitude: "Thanking him for being my why even though it shouldn't be this why. It shouldn't be this way." Dani Wallace, a mother of 4, is talking about her son Jeremiah Porter. "When my son was born he was ok for a moment and then I started noticing he would projectile vomit and he started deteriorating and I saw his skin starting to sag." Unfortunately, Jeremiah died at the age of 7 months, having an inconclusive autopsy with what the doctors thought was SIDS. Jeremiah was her third pregnancy, and she says her symptoms were worse than her previous two. "I didn't understand what was going on with my body and so every time I would go to the doctor I'd say hey I'm sick and they would say oh, it's morning sickness. They gave me Zofran, they gave me Reglan, and then they gave me Promethazine." Instead of giving her a proper diagnosis, the list of drugs the doctor prescribed continued. She later did her own research and realized her problem was called hyperemesis gravidarum. "Women that did not look like me with ports and home IV machines and home health aide nurses that supported them through their hyperemesis gravidarum that wasn't available to me." The experience made a profound impact on Wallace. With her telling me 3-4 times more black women are dying, it motivated her to become a Doula. Today, Wallace is one out of three Doulas in Kern County. The challenges she went through became a driving force."My journey to advocate for myself and my son." VO And others like Treana Adams, a mother of two and a surrogate, she tells me there were complications with her first pregnancy as her doctors convinced her to have a C-section. Treana Adams shares, "I labored for 46 hours and still ended up having to do a C-section, so the second time around when I just had my last one, a lot of doctors tried to push for the C-section again just because it's something that you've already been through." During Adams' second pregnancy and her third, Wallace was her doula. Adams expresses gratitude,"Helping me with, you know, different techniques for me to try to open up, it actually helped out a lot which gave me what I wanted, was a successful VBAC." Adams is grateful Wallace advocated for her proper care, giving Adams the support Wallace never had. Wallace emphasizes, "It's not anybody's birth, it's not my birth, it's not the health care provider's birth, it's their birth. It's their postpartum period and they deserve adequate support and adequate bedside support and adequate health care." Wallace tells me that doula services are covered by most medical insurances if you're interested in having a doula.Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere: Download Our Free App for Apple and Android Sign Up for Our Daily E-mail Newsletter Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Instagram Subscribe to Us on YouTube ...read more read less