We were lucky to catch up with Jenna Hernandez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jenna, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I became an RN in 2010. It was a lifelong dream of mine to be a nurse. I had known at a young age that working with mom’s and babies was my passion, and something I worked hard for over the course of my nursing career. In 2015 I became a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), dedicated to the activism of reproductive justice and quality women’s healthcare. Although I had options as a midwife to either work in our outside of hospital based practice, I decided to stay within the medical industrial complex as a change agent. I was determined to implement policies in the hospital setting that empowered the autonomy and decision making of women that comes with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. The United States has one of the lowest maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortalities of all developed countries, specifically among black and indigenous women of color. A lot of these statistics come from a lack of quality and equality based women’s health care. Unfortunately, women’s health care has evolved into a platform of control, gaslighting, and fear mongering, in which women aren’t unable to be present in their decision making, understanding their bodies, and/or knowing their health care options.

I never knew that becoming a midwife was so political. After the birth of my first son in 2016, I was changed forever. I immediately became attached to mothers on social media: Mothers for Justice, Take Back Postpartum, The Empowered Birth Project, BadassMotherBirther. It was like I became a part of a special club, where only we understood the kind of world where fighting for our rights and our autonomy was a general consensus. Not to mention the “village” of mother’s who longed for support and community and resources in a society where this is never prioritized. This changed the kind of midwife I wanted to be. I just wanted to teach women about their bodies and help them to achieve empowered births, and support them in their postpartum journeys, and apparently this is political.

As I entered my first job as a CNM in 2016, I joined a group of Obstetrician/Gynecologists in a well-established, hospital owned practice. At the time there was only one other CNM in the practice, and I had never felt so alone. I felt like an outsider, like no one was on the same page as me in my passion to supporting womanhood, motherhood, and supporting autonomous birth. People seemed to think I was too “crunchy” too “hardcore” and unrealistic. The nursing staff on the labor and delivery unit often disagreed with my decision-making and felt like I was dangerous. All because I chose to support women in their decision making, and allowing them to take charge of their bodies and their births. I persevered, and I joined committees, went to meetings, and pushed for change. I was able to implement labor hydrotherapy and wireless electronic fetal monitoring in order to allow for more free movement and comfort in labor. Although it was inconvenient for the nurses and staff, I pushed it hard, making sure that it was provided to the women who requested it. I fought year’s old policies that no longer applied to current standards of care and evidence based research. Administrators cringed at my recommendations, and often pushed back at my ideas. But I still showed up, and I still empowered my patients to advocate for themselves and their wishes, to say no if something didn’t feel right, and to ask questions when they disagreed with a plan of care.

Over the course of my years as a CNM I worked for three different hospital based practices with collaborating physicians. And in every practice I struggled with my autonomy as a midwife. I’ve told people that it often felt like being inside of a cardboard box underneath a looking glass. I learned how to practice within my own philosophy of care but without drawing too much attention to myself, often having conversations with my patients where we had a plan in place that felt safe for the both of us without rocking the boat too much. This is midwifery, taking risks for the sake of better outcomes, and safer birth, and healthy babies. Knowing that decisions have to be made against the grain in order to obtain the outcomes that other countries have. And it is a sad and exhausting reality that overtime wears at your soul.

In 2020, COVID-19 reached my city in late Spring, and there was so much unknown about what would happen to women in healthcare, specifically in labor and birth. Without having the answers myself, I was forced to lead the women in my care blindly. I still experience trauma from the experiences of women being forced to receive and undergo care alone during that timeframe. I remember specifically one night during a call shift, I was caring for a first time mama who refused to have COVID-19 testing on admission in labor. She was forced into an isolation room to labor and give birth…ALONE. Her partner was not allowed to be present, her nurses isolated her, and she was treated poorly for making a personal choice about her care. I could hear her wailing and moaning from the hallway as she moved through the waves of labor, and it absolutely broke me. I stayed with her through the night as she labored, and we held hands as she gave birth to her sweet baby. Later the next day I was informed her baby was taken from her and isolated due to her decision to decline COVID-19 testing as a “precautionary measure.” This mother developed severed postpartum depression and anxiety, and required long-term care for the trauma she obtained from her birth experience. I felt a numbness creep over me very shortly after that experience and began to question my career and if midwifery was where I was meant to stay. Over the next year the practice I was working for experienced a loss of midwives, and again, I was left feeling very alone and isolated. Being the only midwife working with a large group of physicians was extremely daunting. Being a midwife is like being a black sheep – even though I’m considered an advanced practice nurse – I didn’t fit in with the nurses, and I didn’t fit in with the doctors. It’s always a losing battle, even though I’ve had the honor of working with some amazing and compassionate nurses and providers. But without a support system of sister midwives, it is often hard to survive such a grueling practice as I was in at the time.

Anyway, I had a decision to make. I had recently re-married and felt really compelled to spend more time at home with my wife and kids. Although I still knew I wanted to provide care to women I wanted to re-evaluate how I did it and in what capacity. After the pandemic, health care changed so drastically, and I felt like my autonomy was so much more compromised. I felt under-appreciated, I was doing way more work than what I was compensated for, and I just felt stuck. The providers I worked with scoffed at my requests for an increase in salary and a decrease in work hours. Insurance was becoming more of an issue which limited the ways in which I could care for women in the clinic. I was miserable, to say the least. So, I decided to take a leap, a RISK if you will. I decided to start my own out of hospital practice.

Midwives have been providing care to women out of hospital for centuries. This idea was nothing new, however I didn’t just want to provide birth services. I wanted to continue caring for women in the ways I did in the clinic, but, in their homes, in their safety, surrounded by family. So I created a mobile service: The Mobile Midwife of San Antonio. With my education and credentials, I was able to create a women’s health practice out of the comfort of people’s homes. I launched my practice in May of 2023. I was TERRIFIED. Being a woman and creating a business is tough, we aren’t supposed to be successful you know? But I started one step at a time, one day at a time and created the practice of my dreams. The day I launched my business, I received an enormous outpouring of love and support from my community, and I was in absolute shock. I realized that all the work and passion I had put into my time working in hospital based care had made a big impact in my community. I received inquiries from repeat families, and from doulas and other community midwives wanting to work with me and really respecting my decision to leave the hospital.

My practice encompasses all of the parts of midwifery I worked hard for over the eight years I spent in hospital based practice: diverse and inclusive care, trauma informed care, autonomous and evidence base-care and decision making, family centered care, the list could go on and on. I decided to expand my practice to include gender-affirming care when it comes to pap smear testing, pelvic examination, conception, contraception, and fertility care. I provide most gynecologic care in the home and include in-home insemination options for those who are looking to avoid fertility clinics for care. And of course, pregnancy and birth care – my favorite! Since opening my practice I have welcomed 7 babies at home, and have helped at least 50 families in holistic women’s health care. I can’t wait to see what is in store for my business, and can’t wait to walk alongside more families in care. Taking this risk changed my life forever – in the best way possible. I am able to spend more time with my kids, and focusing on the things that are important in my life. I feel 100% fulfilled. I have never looked back.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Certified Nurse Midwife, which is a board certified advanced practice registered nurse who specializes in the care of women and/or people with a uterus. CNM’s are able to provide most gynecologic care including whole body exams, pap smear testing, STD testing, contraception care, abortion care, fertility care and guidance, IUI/ICI for conception, and mental health assessment and management. We are also able to provide full-scope obstetric care including prenatal care, assessment, and diagnosis, attend labor and birth, perform vaginal laceration repairs, and posptartum care. CNM’s can also provide newborn care for up to the first six weeks of life, including newborn assessment, diagnosis, and management, administering medications and vaccines, and performing newborn screenings and testings, and in some cases, perform circumcisions. CNM’s (depending on state) are able to prescribe medications within their scope of practice. Most CNM’s work in hospital-based practice and work with collaborating OB/GYN physicians, but you can find many CNM’s who work in birth centers or home settings as well.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think many of us can resonate with this but really just believing in myself. I think it’s really easy to believe that we need large corporations in order to be successful. I heavily relied on and believed that the hospital’s that essentially “owned” me were the only way that I would be successful, and the only way I would ever make it to financial security. The thought of stepping outside of that and creating my own business was absolutely terrifying and most of my fear came from the thought of losing out on financial security. I think we’ve all been taught that capitalism is the answer to financial success, our country is built on it. Especially being a woman, I could barely fathom the idea of making it on my own, like who did I think I was?? But my very first transaction felt like hitting the jackpot. It was $200 for a consultation. And from the moment that money hit my Venmo account I knew everything was going to be ok. It’s taken a lot for me to let go of the financial choke-hold that corporate America had on me before, and some days it’s still very present, because being a business owner means ebbs and flows of income. However, my business is growing and thriving because it’s mine and I’m taking care of it. I have to believe that I can and will do it, and as long as I believe in myself, I am already successful.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I had an advantage prior to creating my practice because I have worked in my community for over 10 years. I had created a name for myself prior, and have worked with so many families. Launching my business last year felt like something people had been waiting for actually! So it was really great to get clientele immediately after leaving hospital based practice. Otherwise, I have 100% marketed on Instagram. I HATE social media, let me tell you…especially Facebook. I deleted Facebook like a decade ago haha! And unfortunately, there is a very large network of mom’s and women on Facebook who are constantly looking for holistic, trauma-informed providers like me, so I am working on creating a platform on Facebook right now. But otherwise, Instagram as been my go-to. I use Canva to create content, and also use client content from births or home visits to post as well – which gets the most views/likes. I have found that people really appreciate relatable content vs. created content with information. I am human, so I have weeks where the content flows from me and I am heavy on posting, and then I have weeks where I absolutely despise content creating and choose to forgo posting. I am aware that I can create schedules on my account where content can be posted for me, however that would require me to interact with people on days where I don’t feel like interacting, so I protect my mental health in that way by controlling what and when I post. I also find that interacting with my followers via questions in the stories has been great. I try really hard to show my face live at least once a week, because in my industry, and that fact that I am providing care in people’s homes, I think its suuuper important for people to get a feel for my vibe and who I am as a person. I also get a lot of clients based on word of mouth – which is amazing! So it’s always so important to make great impressions and provide consistent and quality services.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themobilemidwifeofsanantonio
• Instagram: @mobilemidwifeofsanantonio
• Yelp: The Mobile Midwife of San Antonio