From Grief to Impact: Rachelle Dumas’ Journey to Transform Healthcare | A focus on maternal health and equitable access

After enduring nine pregnancy losses before the birth of her son, Rachelle M. Dumas, a registered nurse and founder of A Light After Nine, turned her pain into purpose. In this powerful conversation, Rachelle and host Bree Jensen dive deep into maternal health, medical gaslighting, and the urgent need for patient advocacy, especially for Black women.

Rachelle shares how she transformed her personal experiences into a mission-driven nonprofit and a life-saving app that empowers patients to navigate the healthcare system with confidence. From political advocacy to emotional healing, this episode is a raw and hopeful reminder that storytelling and self-advocacy can change lives.

🎙️ "Nobody knows your body better than you. Your story is powerful—and it can save lives." — Rachelle M. Dumas

Website: alightafternine.org
Website: speakrxapp.com
Threads/IG: @alightafternine
TikTok: Rdumasrn
LinkedIn: Rachell Dumas, MSN, RN
Facebook: A Light After Nine
YouTube: A Light After Nine

Schedule a consultation with us: hello@thesocialimpact.co

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Transcript

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Bree, welcome to the social impact podcast. My name is Bree Jensen, and I will be your host today. I'm joined by Rachelle M Dumas, a registered nurse, nonprofit founder and health innovator whose story is rooted in resilience and purpose. After experiencing nine pregnancy losses before the birth of her son, Rachelle founded a light after nine, a nonprofit supporting families through grief healing and advocacy. She also created speak RX, a life saving app that empowers patients to navigate health care with confidence, blending her medical expertise and her powerful personal journey, Rachelle has has transformed pain into purpose and building tools to ensure that no one faces loss or health challenges without support. This is a meaningful conversation, so let's get to it. Rachelle, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing your incredibly important story. I think people like you, I'm kind of giving the story away, but people like you, advocating for others is what makes such a huge difference in the world, because sharing your story is not easy, but if you don't, then more people have to go through what you've gone through. I just want to say thank you for being on and I we usually just kind of start from the beginning, but I want to hear first, maybe we start from the end with you, and then we can go backwards. Will you share a little bit about where you are today and what initiatives you're working on, and then we can kind of go through what brought you to this point? Absolutely. I love the social impact. I have been following you all for quite a while now, and I am working on a host of things. So advocacy is the biggest, the just the biggest reason why for me, advocacy, patient advocacy, especially moms, maternal health. Advocacy, political advocacy I've spoken on Capitol Hill like advocacy is just my realm. I'm a registered nurse. I actually just started my doctorate. Yeah? So, yay. I love torture. That's huge. I know that's such a huge accomplishment. Even to just take the steps towards it is such a big deal. Yeah, yeah. I'm really excited about it. And I have a nonprofit called light after nine, where we are helping my arms help themselves by teaching them how to advocate. We are hosting free events for them, where we get our political figures in Georgia involved to help them even become maternal health advocates after they've been there, done that like myself, gone through these horrible maternal health journeys. We are fighting a really good fight with the maternal health crisis, which is just a handful to be dealing with. It really takes community. I'm also working on a health tech app just to help others with advocacy. So we have a lot going on, a lot going on, and you have a sweet two year old, and I have a sweet two year old, and at the end and beginning and middle of every day, I am a mom of a two year Yes, two is, I have to tell you, I have four kids. Two is my favorite age. They're just so cute. I mean, it's a lot of work, right? It's a lot of work, but they're just so cute. You know, little very adventurous too. Yes, if you don't want to exercise, don't have a two year old, right? Because you're running, you're right, right? Built in exercise. So it sounds like a lot of really great things, but your journey to get here has been a challenge, even to get to the place where you have a two year old. So I heard you say advocacy, teaching others to advocate. So we're kind of come back to that. But what spurred you as such an advocate, like, what? Why? What's your why? So maternal health wise, I was literally catapulted into maternal health. I was a critical care nurse prior to my pregnancy journey, so I can save your life like the back of my hand. But when it came to maternal health, I was just like, Okay, another basics, you know, I'm doing some classes, you know, the Lamaze classes, and you know all the little classes you do just to get more well versed on a journey and doing my research. But there's nothing that could have prepared me for my journey. I had an unsurmountable amount of loss. I lost nine babies within four years, wow. And some of them were super traumatic. There was a loss. I had twins. I was pregnant with twins in 2020, and I 10 out of 10, pain. I was bleeding, I was I was just sick, and I kept going to the doctor. Kept going to the ER, and they kept. To me home, saying, everything's fine, and I lost the first baby at 13 weeks and three days, and then all my symptoms left again. They're saying, I'm fine. At least you'll have one baby. You'll be fine. At 15 weeks and three days, I went to the bathroom and the baby fell out. Oh my gosh. There was a pregnancy where I made it to 20 weeks so long as I had been pregnant and a doctor put in what's called a certage to hold my cervix together because I had what's called cervical insufficiency. I'm a nurse. I had no idea what cervical insufficiency was. I didn't know what a cerclage was. I didn't know what a reproductive endocrinologist or a maternal fetal medicine this was, yeah, a different language to me, right? And I'm navigating these things and learning and asking questions, and she put in she did surgery to put this in so I could keep my cervix closed because the babies would just fall out. And I'm begging her to see me before seven weeks from the time she put that in there, and she just refused, wow, come to my appointment at 20 weeks. She's like, Oh, you're psycho. Ash failed, and you need to go and give birth, and the baby is kicking healthy, you know? And I ended up finding Texas to try and save the baby. So just enormous amount of grief and loss and education and research in the midst of grief and loss that I experienced, which led me to the point of creating the light after nine, and then what led me to the point of creating this app to help others was it just never stopped. It wasn't just maternal health. I just had brain surgery like a few weeks ago, what my second one in three months, and I had to fight for that brain surgery after nearly going blind, 10 out of 10 headaches, you know, I'm falling down the stairs like I'm vomiting. I'm sick. I'm trying to finish my master's degree. I'm starting my doctorate. And doctors are like saying, Oh, you just have a GI bug or, Oh, nothing's wrong with you. But I am a neuro ICU nurse too, like I studied at a Comprehensive Stroke Center in Atlanta called Grady, and I know my stuff, right? And I'm saying, No, we need to do an MRI CT being over. I'm like, I'm speaking the language with you now. Now I have to become a nurse. I can't get a patient right. And I finally got my first surgery I needed at the advocating for myself while being sick, while sometimes not even being able to see. And I got a second one, you know? And again, I'm telling you, like when you're in this space, if you're not somebody who is well versed in that specialty of nursing and healthcare. You cannot advocate for yourself. So I'm like other people will are literally dying because of the lack of ability to advocate and speak the language. Wow. And that is always going to be my driver. Wow. I mean, that's amazing. I'm just so sorry for everything that you've been through. What? What do you think are a few of the things, I'm sure there's a laundry list, but what? What do you think a few of the things that you noticed that you know continued to happen, where you were dismissed or like, what did you notice in the process that I kept getting, and this is so frustrating when I open my mouth, people know that I'm educated and I know what I'm talking about. And I kept getting, Oh, wow. Like, are you like, in healthcare? Like, you really know your stuff, which was shock, yes, but I'm trying to be a patient because I'm sick, but now you're forcing me to be a nurse and a patient advocate, and then after that initial shock is, oh, well, you're going to be fine. So they they're not even believing me, and they're gaslighting me. So medical gaslighting is so real. It's so real. There's also this thing where for black women and black people, and studies have been done, is that there are healthcare providers that don't believe black people feel the pain that they say, that we say we feel. They really don't believe that we feel pain. So what happens is delayed treatment and delayed diagnosis, and then delay your treatment, or sometimes death and extreme cases. So there's just just so much you're right, it's a laundry list. There's racism in medicine. There's burnout with clinicians. Like being on the other side, you're just literally burned out because there is no staff, so you can't check on your patients as often. You have to be in and out the room quickly, you know, things like that, so you miss things, and the patient suffers. So both sides of that spectrum, it is just Whoo. It's just a lot going on and patients are suffering. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely I've experienced medical gaslighting. I have a chronic disease and it's been decades, and then I have to take breaks from going to doctors because I'm so emotionally spent, and I get anxiety when I have to go to the doctor, and then I can't communicate clearly because I'm so stressed, and they're looking at me like, you can't even share what you're feeling, and so I understand a small percentage of what you're saying, and I and I also recognize that it's a million times worse for people of color. And so if I'm experiencing that as a white woman, I like, 10 million times over. I just like, can't imagine, so I'm curious. Like, talk to the worst. Don't say their name, but talk to like, your worst experience, you know, and tell them what you really want to say, but just don't use the cutting. I am not, you know. No, no, just kidding. But you know, tell them what they not what you really want to say, but what, what they need to know. You know, like, what? What do you want to say? What? On behalf of people that experience, what you experience? I really love this question. I'm trying not to get emotional, because nobody has ever asked me to do that, other than my therapist that I have to see because I have PTSD from this experience. Yeah, but if I can tell the lady who casually, very casually, told me, I just go deliver my healthy baby boy at 20 weeks and refuse to see me before then listen to your other patients. Take heed to what they're saying. Be open to their their advocacy, their self advocacy, measures that they're trying to take to protect themselves. Realize and understand that patients are expert in what they're feeling. We come into you because you're expert in your field and your care, but nobody's more of an expert about what they're feeling, what's going on in their body more than that patient, and believe that patient when they're telling you something is wrong. And then finally, I just want to say that your language matters out of my whole pregnancy experience, and I had 12 health care providers doing my pregnancy experience, 12 your language stuck with me more than anything, and I can never forget how unaffected you were by telling me to go and deliver A healthy baby born, that's so painful. Thank you for sharing that. Listen to your patients. They know what's going on inside of their bodies and and you know, hopefully it's, it's so much easier said than done. Like, I just want to leave your biases at the door, like, wherever you know, it's like, so wild to me, because we try, I think, for at least for me, like, you want to be able to trust your doctor, and they're still humans, right? And so the fact that we have to, I mean, advocate for ourselves and our kids and, like, it's exhausting, because you're right. You said, you said it so well when you said, I just want to be a patient like, I'm sick, I'm not okay. I need to be able to trust my doctor. So sadly, we're at a place in healthcare that you do have to teach advocacy. And so that's, you know, you're kind of doing twofold. You're spreading the message to medical professionals from a medical professional, by the way, you're the expert, right? So absolutely like your voice should be heard, medical professional to medical professional. So thank you. Just keep saying it. You know, whether you feel like you're beating a drum, just keep saying it or not, but also you're speaking to people and how to also advocate, because we're still in a place where, unfortunately, that's the case. So where do you start with that? And tell us a little more about about your work? Yeah, absolutely. So there's a few places where we start. We're talking about teaching advocacy, as far as being a recipient of someone's advocacy, so being a healthcare provider and understanding and delivering culturally competent and culturally humble care like you're humble enough to say, You know what, I'm not, well versed about your culture, and what does diagnosis may mean for you guys, and what our interaction may mean for you and things like that. So being humble enough to be a student of that. So I love to teach healthcare providers, but specifically students. Students are, like, bright eyed bushy tailed they haven't really touched the patient yet. And to get them and say, This is the climate right now, and this is how you could change. And remember your language matters, and this is how you can. To patients. And when you say patient complaints versus patient reports, why that makes a difference? You know, things point out, things like that. They're absorbing it. They're getting Yes, yeah. And at the end of the day, they may not remember my name, but they're going to remember my full story of not pregnancy losses. It is crazy, absolutely. And then we teach our patients and their village. Because the last thing you want to do as a patient who's sick and gone blind, you know, like myself a few like a month ago, yeah, or going through pregnancy loss and your eighth loss, sixth loss, fifth loss after one loss, the last thing you want to do is verbally fight your healthcare provider for the care that you know you need and deserve. So not just the patient that we're teaching, it's also their village, whomever they choose that to be. Because if I'm the patient and I'm going through trauma, I'm not going to be able to advocate for myself, right, right? So I need somebody else here to know what my needs are and be able to express that when I can. So we do a lot of training for the group, their village and the patient. And then there's political advocacy, the big, beautiful bill that is causing closure of over 300 rural hospitals that mean, and we already have a healthcare desert issue, a maternal health desert issue. We have a healthcare desert issue, right? That's going to make it so much worse. People in rural areas, sometimes they already have to travel two or three hours for health. If you're a patient like myself, when you're pregnant, who is high risk, two hours is too long, right now, like four or five, yeah, and God forbid you need to see a specialist who knows how far that is, right? So I advocate. I'm a political, maternal health advocate. To like, I'm not afraid to talk to my senators and representatives. And they're open, you know, they're very open, and they're fighting a good fight, too, here in Georgia. So it's, it's so many falsets of advocacy. So that's why we, we also, at the end of the day, once you've made it over that healthcare hurdle of advocacy, and you're like, Well, I don't want nobody else like myself. I don't want nobody else to go through this. Here we go with political advocacy. Come join us in Capitol Hill, at the Georgia State Capitol. Let's write our our representatives. Let's, let's fight that other good fight, because at the end of the day, it starts at the top too. I can't advocate in a healthcare setting for myself if there is no healthcare setting to advocate, right? Absolutely. And so I think that's so incredible that you're hitting all areas, right? Because it's a holistic approach. And the legislation that's like, if people don't, don't understand the impact that that has, and so it absolutely matters to keep educated and aware of what's going on, because people may think, Well, no, I've had the same doctor 20 years. We love them. It's been great, and then their Auntie has an issue and has a crisis, and then all of a sudden they they are like, Oh, I get it right. So for kind of like the different groups, so I feel like there's more people than even talk about more people out there that even talk about having challenges with their health care providers, like, whether they just feel gas lit or, you know, just trusted them and then they got sicker. So for that group that has felt like they needed to advocate for themselves but didn't know how what's your like? Three minute workshop, what's the top point that you want to tell them absolutely so for and I'm actually hosting a workshop with our representative, Dr Jasmine Clark, hopefully our rep Williams and some reps from all soft and Reverend Warnock's office will join us as well. But we have a gender, and I'm so excited about this, I can't even talk. I'm so excited about this because we go over that, right? We go over scripts, because sometimes you just don't know how to start that conversation, right? You just don't know. It's like, your doc, you went in for a headache, and your doctor is like, go get an MRI. You got the MRI. And then the doctor was like, You need brain surgery. What would you say after? Yeah, then what? Yeah, right, they would so like say you want a second opinion. We tell you how to start that conversation, how to navigate that conversation, what specialists you may need, how to ask for specialists. What does that look like? Why will a doctor do this? Why? What is a red flag for healthcare provider? How to identify a red flag and when? To say you need to switch doctors, not a second opinion, you need to leave this is a red flag. We go over that. We go over how their language, and from a mental health standpoint, how their language is impacting you, how this whole process of being a patient and having to be an advocate, being forced to be an advocate, is mentally impacting you, because we don't talk about that enough, right? Like when you're sick, like you say you had a chronic illness, so do i right when you're sick and you have exacerbation of symptoms, you have to now, now you know you have anxiety around going back to the hospital, talking to your doctors, because that experience may have not been the best. You may have gotten gas late. So you're like, here I go, and have to fight with them, and I already feel sick. Why do I have to do this? You know, it almost make you not want to receive care and just deal with right home, right until and then it gets really bad, right? Right to go to. Er, yep. So we talk about the mental health implications. We actually have a psychologist on our board who have them talk and debrief and ground themselves and have those open conversations. Yeah. We talk about storytelling. I tell my story to make others comfortable. Usually, after I say my story, people were like, Oh, I could tell my story. Yeah. You know. We talk about how storytelling is a catalyst for change, and why you should tell your story when you're able to also for advocacy. We talk about discharge once you leave the hospital and something happens. How can you advocate for yourself when you're not even in the healthcare space? So it's a lot that we go through in that program. We are very thorough. We ask all our moms and their village their questions, and we try to make them as comfortable as possible. But above all, even if you are knowledgeable about your chronic issues, which you become an expert at some point on whatever it is, right? Sometimes you just need empowerment, yeah, sometimes you just feel kind of scared of your healthcare team. Yeah, feel guilty. We all a lot of times we have to address people not want to advocate because they feel they have a fear of retaliation. And we address laws and rights and eggs surrounding it amazing. Yeah, that's fantastic. Going back to maternal health specifically, because we're kind of talking about health care in general. Maternal health, like you mentioned, the data shows that black and brown women don't experience the same kind of health care in through their pregnancies and things like that. What more can you share about that? And how can someone find a doctor that they can trust in the beginning, when they're you know the you're so excited you just found out you're pregnant, and you start to be like, Okay, first step is find a doctor. Like, how do you navigate that so that you can potentially find someone that you know is going to hear you and walk through this pregnancy with you. Yeah. So we actually have our event coming up in October called your birth, your choice. Wow. So the stats around it is black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications, I mean, than our white counterparts, we're dying of them, you know. So when it comes to selecting a doctor, again, empowerment plays a big role in it. We want our patients, our moms, their village, to know that this is your healthcare journey. You are the leader of this you can choose who is a part of this journey. You don't have to say, okay, to everything that the healthcare provider is telling you. You know, a lot of times when you're in a hospital or in a healthcare setting, they say, Oh, we're gonna make a referral to endocrinologist here. I already have somebody for you, which is their accounting part, right? Right? They're in that hospital system, right? You don't have to go with that doctor. But for some reason, patients feel like, oh, that's who I got to see. That's who he's, right, right? So we, we do a lot of myth busting, like that myth, yeah, you know, we do a lot of that. We're teaching them how to do hospital tours, what to look for on the hospital tours. What are red flags at a hospital? You know, what type of NICU, what level of NICU they have? Because that matters. How critical of care can they do they offer? Like, how critical can a baby be where they can take care of them? Are They're level four or level one? We're asking them to really think about their birthing plan. Do you even want to give birth in the hospital like you don't have to do that. You could go to a birthing center. You can do it. Sometimes you're too high risk to do those things, but if that is your desire, we can help you navigate to that and you can help yourself by picking the right provider. Writers who are also on board with doing those things. So a lot of empowerment, a lot of education and a lot of hand holding when needed, right? That's fantastic. So speaking of you know, you share your story, it makes other people want to share theirs. I've never shared my birth story publicly with my youngest. So she at the 20 week appointment, we went in with we brought all of our kids. We have three olders. We brought them in to find out if we were having a boy or girl, you know. And so we thought it was going to be this really exciting time, but instead, the woman that was doing the scan, she said, Are you meeting with the doctor right after this, which I had already had kids before that, and I'd never been asked that before. And I said no, and so at that point I knew something was going on, and they said, Okay, we'll call you and in, within 24 hours, I didn't even meet with my doctor, who had already had for 20 weeks of my pregnancy. They had transferred me to a high risk hospital 45 minutes away from my house, and I live in Southern California like they couldn't, you know, I should have had access. I can't imagine people that are living in more rural areas. And I had small children at home, I ended up having a high risk pregnancy. My my baby had a pleural effusion, and they were having me go 45 minutes to the big hospital in downtown San Diego twice a week for monitoring, and I would see three or four different doctors. I never saw the same person. I just felt carried away by the system. My original doctor said, No, I don't I can't really say anything, because I don't specialize in high risk pregnancies. So she wouldn't even meet with me. And every time I met with a doctor, they asked me if I wanted to abort my baby, and I didn't still even understand, really, what was going on. You know, they said she may not make it full term, but she may do you want to abort, but there wasn't really, like, a clear diagnosis or anything like that. So closer to the pregnancy, about 20 or to the full term, about 28 weeks, they said, We believe she has Down syndrome. Do you want to abort? I said, No, absolutely not. You know, we'll have a beautiful baby with Down syndrome. And then miraculously, at 30 weeks, the pleural effusion dissolved. It just went away, and we ended up having a healthy baby at full term. But the experience was so chaotic, so confusing, and I felt like I didn't have a voice. I didn't know who to ask, real questions. I felt like I just had to keep like, advocating for my baby's life and and again, that's as a white woman. And so the experiences that others are experiencing, you know, are 10 million times worse. And fortunately, she, you know, was healthy and I was able to carry her full to term. But I guess I just want to say like, thank you for doing these workshops and this education, because I, like you just mentioned, people give referrals, and you think, Okay, I just have to go to that person. Or you just feel so confused that you don't even have the mental capacity to look anywhere else or do like I'm just thinking, I gotta save my baby. So based on kind of like that experience and how you give more resources, how do you find your resources and how do you get them out to people all over the country that maybe can't attend your in person? Workshops like, how are you getting the word out? Yeah, first of all, I'll not say thank you for being vulnerable enough to share your story that is hard, that is so hard, and I could only imagine mentally what that did to you when you're pregnant. And you know how it is, like, we're not even all there. You're just trying to sleep at night, right? Like, biologically, like, theology, like, oh my Arctic. It's rough like to go through a trauma like that. That was traumatic. Thank you for sharing your story like I'm sure this podcast is going to touch lives just from hearing people, just from people hearing you be vulnerable and share that, because I am, like I said earlier, true believer that storytelling, like sharing your story, is going to be a catalyst for a change. So thank you so much. Yeah, thank you for saying that. But we also offer virtual, virtual webinars, because yeah, it's like, not easy to to fight a Georgia for an hour. Yeah, so it's online. I also our educational webinars on our Youtube as well. There was one we just did with like lawyers. She went over workplace rights and a corporate doula and. You went over what to do if you're losing Medicaid and different insurance benefits, things you may not know. Doulas like how to afford them. You know, so useful, yes, so useful information. I'm like, writing things down as if I'm a possibly ever get pregnant? Yeah, nervous, but the moms that were helping and caring for like, they need this information. Yes, they really need it. So it's always virtual, and then if you can't make it, you can visit our website and just go and look at the videos as well, because they're very helpful and they're free, and that's every event that we do. It comes with a workbook, a virtual workbook that's fillable. And you know, you may get some information overload because it's a lot of info, but it's in that workbook too, so you could just take it away as well. Amazing, and you're so right about the power of storytelling, and especially in women's health, like across the board, I think we need to be just when we're hanging out with our friends over a glass of wine, sharing about perimenopause, sharing about our last doctors, you know, like and it's kind of funny because I have a friend, we have reached that age where we do start our conversations on Like our last surgery and our what medications we're taking. And I'm like, I'm like, No, it can't come to this. Because I feel like that's what you hear from, like my aunts and uncles, my parents, like, the first phone call is like, Oh, I started a new medication. Like, yeah. Like, it can't come to that. So we do that part of it of just kind of the complaining side of it. Like, oh, my knees hurt and my head hurt. But talking, you know, like that side, yes, but we don't necessarily, like, maybe I'll speak for myself. Like, I don't necessarily am always talking about, like, hey, it's real that you are having hot flashes at 39 like, is some people have perimenopause early, and like, get tested and like, just those conversations. I think we just all need to kind of support each other as women and normalize the storytelling and all that good stuff. Because I don't even think like, recommending doctors is really like a thing in my friend's circle, and that would be and that also creates an element of, like, we're on our own, but we probably all have doctors that we have gone to and maybe can recommend. As I'm like talking, I'm thinking of that you're right. We should, though, because it's just like, sometimes it's rough out here when you're like, wilderness of a new issue, especially because we're we are getting older, and, you know, we need doctors and specialists, and sometimes it's really hard to find quality providers. Yeah, so if you find somebody that you really click with and they're listening to you and they will leave you and they're running that extra test when another doctor told you, like just to go home and rest, that is something that needs to be shared. So, right, right? 100% 100% people come to me and ask me if I have any referrals, and I'm like, look and I could find documents. Yeah, after nine providers, that was a big thing for me, because I couldn't always take the time I missed being sick throughout pregnancy and advocating to, like, really vet providers. Yes, we offer that service too, because it's very important. It's very important, absolutely, to find somebody you can trust. Okay, so I want to, we have a few more minutes left. I'm thinking of the career side of what you do. And a lot of nonprofit founders are, you know, they've gone through an experience, they see the need, and then they create a nonprofit or organization to meet that need, which is, it sounds like that's similar to your story. So what would you say on just like the practical journey, if somebody has encountered or experienced something that they see a gap for, and they want to create an organization to fulfill that gap, what would you say to them? What's like the first few steps, maybe like a learning that you've had? Yeah, so with my new venture, it's just been coming up a lot, but definitely one go for it. A lot of us entrepreneurs, we second guess ourselves a lot, a lot, but you really have to just go for it. It's a reason that was put in your heart. It's a reason that you went through that. And I just don't believe that I went through not pregnancy loss only to just have my baby. People have babies all the time. It had to be a bigger, greater reason for all of this. You know, it had to be a catalyst for me to do something big. And trust that on your entrepreneur. New journey, trust that you're in the right place, doing the right thing, and then, from a business standpoint, standpoint, do some market research, see what's out there already. Because there there are people in maternal health. There are a lot of maternal health organizations doing amazing work. Sometimes it could be something that you just join, but if you have an innovation, that's where you know you really want to try and bring something new and something that could really save people's lives. So if that's the thing that you're going after a new innovation, make sure you're legally protected. Like, get it patent, get the trademark. People will steal things. Like people steal great things. They're not gonna sell fresh. They will, yeah, you know, protect yourself legally and put your all in it. Really put your all in it. There's sometimes I can't sleep because I'm so excited about what I'm doing. Yeah, I probably shouldn't sleep, considering I had two brain surgeries and three months. But, yeah, you're just so excited. You just can't, you know, yeah, you just can't. And it's a beautiful thing. But just definitely, just go for trusting yourself on an imposter syndrome. Get you just know that you were here and that was put in your heart for a reason, and protect yourself and also move with community, like it takes a village to raise a child, to hold up a mom, but also to grow a business. You can't do it by yourself, not for long anyway, and it won't go far, right, right? How do you build up a village when maybe you don't have family that you're close with, I think about this a lot, which both my parents passed away, and so I went through and my in laws were in a different state, so I went through my last pregnancy kind of alone, and it was really tough. And we were newer to the area, you know? And, yeah, it was tough. So how do you you really like a village can be, like, two people too, right? You just people that, like, have your back. What's your suggestion on building a village if you don't have it built in already? It's just funny, because that's my story too. Like, I don't have any family in Atlanta, like my family here, or my friends, you know, and those dynamics change when you have a baby. So, like, there's a lot of isolation that you feel sometimes when you are the first to navigate motherhood. And so it's just funny, we have a event coming up next to my call after birth. Where is my village? And it's to help moms and her and whoever, if they do have a village, navigate conversations, navigate building villages, if you don't have a village, or navigate motherhood and fatherhood without a village and using all these resources. So if you do have a village, sometimes you know relationships change, like I said, when you become a mom or a parent, yeah, and sometimes a simple conversation will fix this issue, right? Like, sometimes when you have friends and they don't have kids, they just don't get it, they just don't get it. So you have to bring awareness, make schedules. Like, instead of just having a regular baby shower where you're playing games and things, have nesting parties as well. Celebrate with the baby child. But also have a nesting party. Have people come over and say, you need help, washing clothes, putting things together, making meals. Also have like a sheet where they can set up and they're going to do laundry for you when a baby comes here and wash the dishes and clean the house and do all these tours, so you can be with your baby and take care of your baby, or give you a break with the baby. Yeah, try to plan ahead as much as possible before a baby gets here, so your village knows what's going on. You know what's going on. You feel supported, and you don't feel that isolation that you probably felt once you had a baby. If you don't have a village and it's just you and your partner or just you. There are other resources, like doulas. There are postpartum doulas who are great. I wish I had a doula. I wish I had a doula. Yeah, I probably wouldn't have had not pregnancy losses, but doulas can help you with those postpartum like home, of keep chores and things like that, and taking care of baby and giving you a break and helping you learn the breastfeed if you choose that, or helping you learn the feed and getting you back on your feet like you have that support. There are also respite care companies who can come in and do those things as well, because it's hard, it's really hard. So there are resources that we're giving our moms and dads who don't have a village, and then we're helping them from a mental health standpoint, and just like a post program empowerment standpoint, regarding how to have those conversations and navigate a village and get them involved. Yeah, amazing. Amazing. It sounds like you're meeting all the all the things that there's a huge gap, like when you went back, when we go back to the conversation about recognizing the needs, you're definitely going in there, recognizing the needs, and then your organization is meeting them. So I'm really thankful for all of your work. We always try to hear it, right, right, yeah. You don't want it to be in vain, your experience and absolutely amazing, yeah? Well, thank you for all that you're doing. I really appreciate it. Just I think it's incredible. So we have some rapid fire questions that we ask all of our guests, just to see how they are different or similar. So just kind of whatever comes to mind, but the first one's a big one, but what? What motivates you? What drives you for social change? What's your why, which we talked about, definitely preventing anybody from going through what I went through is my biggest why. Yeah, anybody? Yeah, having these issues is my biggest why. And you're incredible person to use your story for power. So thank you for that. Really so much. Yeah, it's, it's kind of like those, I call them the make it or break it, moments when you go through these extreme life experiences. There's no in between. It either makes you who you are or it breaks you like there's no just kind of moving on through life after something like that, like as is. So thank you for letting it make you and support other people. So thank you for that. What's your well being? Tips? Obviously, you have to have a lot of resiliency to go through what you've been through and then continue to help other people. So how do you stay well for yourself? Well, physically, I cannot answer that question. Word can get bit right? Yeah, you're gonna start sleeping, hopefully, that you have to keep working at balance, yes, a journey, that it's not even when you get to the destination, it doesn't stay there, like, it's inevitably gonna change. So like, you have to, like, word towards balance for the rest of your life, and then also, like, just really coming to terms with how things especially traumatic, things like a pregnancy journey or neurological illness or whatever we're going through, is impacting our mental Health. I started that counseling after that 20 week loss, and I've had counseling every week. I go every Thursday at 11am so really being honest with yourself about how you're feeling and yeah, and what your needs are and how they're impacting you and your work and your children, right? And your relationships. You know, if you're like me, you become very withdrawn when trauma happens, like I would become a hermit crab very quickly. And I'm a very extroverted person, so when I go into that space, I'm like, oh, I need, I need help, yeah? And that could be even medicine, or it could be a retreat, or whatever it is, but really address the mental health implications of loss and trauma and all these things we're dealing with. Those are my two biggest like, well being tips. Yeah, those are great, absolutely awareness and then being okay with not being okay and whatever, I love that you mentioned even medication, like whatever it is to help you, like I was talking to someone recently about their conversation with their medical provider, and they said, you know, you had the courage to go on medication. You took the step like you should be proud of yourself. You knew you needed that, and you when, and that's just just like a mindset shift, like, Yeah, you did that. You got the help you needed through that resource, if that's the need, yeah. Okay, great. So the last one is, how can I, or those that are listening, make an impact in their own world. So we have people that are impact professionals. We have people that want to start something, to make a difference, and we have people that just want to, you know, I say just, but it's not just right, but want to make an impact on their neighborhood or in their community. What would you say? There's so many ways. One I will always go back to telling your story that could lead to the most powerful impact that you can think of is telling your story to investing. There are a lot of booths from around organizations who are doing amazing work. So whatever your passion. About whether it's maternal health or advocacy or dementia or it doesn't even have to be healthcare. It could be like sustainability, environmental sustainability, or whatever it is. You can donate to those organizations. See what they're doing first, and see if that's something that you really want to get behind and donate volunteer with those organizations. I promise you, if you reach out to volunteer, nobody is gonna be like, No, I don't think so. Like, everybody needs help for sure. Yes, nobody's going to deny this at all, but show up to events support those people you know, talk to your policy makers, your legislators, make sure they are aware and they listen to you. Make sure, maybe not all, but experience in Georgia like That's great. That's your experience. I'm taking that back. Yeah, the the four that communicate with more often they do listen and they're on the same page, and I realize 100% that is not always the case at all. And then on like a family level, healthcare wise, show up with your people to their appointments, help them out, check in with your people, because sometimes they need advocacy. Yeah, you don't have to go with an organization. You it could be right in your home where you should have just went to a doctor with your wife and showed up with her, like you have a pregnant wife. You take a class, you become a doula. There's dad's to do the classes and programs now, like you be to educate the person educated so you could speak the language when she gets there. Because childbirth, I promise you, is one of the hardest things that you can ever do in your life. We need you. So, yeah, there's so many ways. Yeah, amazing. I love all that advice. What do you want to leave us with? Like, what is the the one thing that we didn't get to that you want to make sure everybody knows we talked about so much. Do want to say, like, transparently, like, this is really hard, you know, entrepreneurship, while dealing with illness and being a mom and pursuing my doctorate degree, this is not easy, right? I am very much a human being. So if you probably thinking I'm tired, I probably, you know, but when it comes to entrepreneurship, that's why you have to really do things that you're really passionate about, yeah, because it would get you through these times. It would, it would get you the times where you're like, I really want to give up, like, forget the Yeah, you know, yeah. So really pursue something that's a passion because it's rough, it's not amazing. Yeah, no, that's great advice. And so real. And I think people have to hear that because it is. That's why we ask, what are your well being deserve? Because it's like no joke, right? Like social impact is no joke, it's but we do it because we care. So I just really appreciate all your insights. Where can people find your resources? Find you stay up on what you have coming up? Yeah? So you can go to the website. We're at a light after 9n, i n, e.org, we're also on Facebook and Instagram and threads at a light after nine. You can follow me on Tick, tock. It's R D, U, M, A, S R n, and I'm on LinkedIn, if you want to connect professionally at Rachelle Dumas, MSN, RN, hopefully, DNP, soon. So we're on all channels except for Twitter. And I love to connect, I love to network, and I would love to see you at any of our events, even if it doesn't pertain to you. And you know of somebody going through the pregnancy journey, you can be a big help by taking our classes, and they're free. Amazing, amazing. Thank you so much for that resource, and I'm impressed that you're on Tiktok like, are you doing the Tiktok dances to educate them on Tiktok away from the internet? I mean, a little dance here and there isn't, you know, gonna hurt anybody. That'd be kind of fun. But anyways, entrepreneur in the 90s, where none of this exists like this is something that that would be a funny Tiktok. Entrepreneurship in the 90s, what does that look like? You know, that would be a fun Tiktok, yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much for this conversation and for all of your work. And we'll we'll keep in touch. Yes, thanks for having me. Thank you for joining the social impact podcast. We hope that this conversation was helpful in your impact work, and if you have a project that you're working. Working on, we do communications, community relations, project management and a lot of other things, and we'd love to see if we can work with you. So please feel free to reach out to Hello at the socialimpact.co don't forget to subscribe on wherever you are listening to this podcast and not miss an episode, and we hope to see you next time. Thanks again. Bye.