Florida-based health worker with Guyanese roots publishes first book
Marica Daniels
Marica Daniels

MARICA Daniels, a Florida-based health worker with Guyanese roots, has published a book titled “Don’t be afraid,” with the intention of educating women on pregnancy, labour and post-labour.
The book which is sub-titled, “Pregnancy can be scary, it doesn’t have to be,” was published in December 2021, but Daniels believes that its relevance will never grow old.

The 27-year-old was inspired to write her book after realising how unprepared mothers were for pregnancy and everything that follows.

Reflecting on her four years as a registered nurse in Florida, Daniels told the Sunday Chronicle: “When they [mothers] got to me in a hospital setting, they were terrified and when they are scared, the fear… I saw it lead to outcomes that they didn’t necessarily want.”

She related that while working in the hospital, mothers did not have a voice and it bothered her.
“I’m all about autonomy and people being able to make decisions for themselves. So, if a mom doesn’t know from a medical standpoint what is going on, she can’t say yes, I want to change that or no, I don’t want to do this. So, I was like, okay, how can I help with the situation?” Daniels related.

Initially, she had the idea of creating a training programme for residents but felt like her voice wasn’t heard on that level. So, she decided to create something to educate mothers.

Inspired by what was going on around her, she wrote the majority of the book in 2020 and then took a break because she felt like she was not ready to finish writing it.

She said that in 2021, things started happening at her place of work which then opened her eyes more and so she decided to finish the book. She then published the book through Amazon.

The book entails guiding mothers or persons planning a family through the process from start to finish, with the start being when they find out that they are pregnant. It tells women what their options are, and what is happening to their bodies.

In the book, she goes through every detail when it comes to figuring out if the woman would want a midwife, doctor, or doula. The doula targets some of the emotional and mental aspects such as any confusion during the delivery process.

DOULA DANIELS
“Because I’m a registered nurse and I used to do labour delivery, I walk them through the entire process depending on where they’re delivering at. So, if they’re having a hospital birth, if they’re having a home birth, if they’re having a birthing centre birth, I go through the changes that are happening to their body from a medical standpoint so that they know what to expect during each stage of labour,” Daniels said.

In the book, she writes about pain medication that mothers would not receive from the hospital. She also outlines how it is to be administered and at what point during labour it would be safe for mothers and babies to receive it.

Daniels is also very big on mental health advocacy and writes about this in her book.
“There’s a section [in the book] that will walk the mom through what to expect from a mental health point after the baby because that can be the toughest time in terms of dealing with postpartum depression or transitioning to life with baby or life with multiple children. It’s basically a ‘what to expect’ in detail,” she related.

Daniels said that her readers were moved by the book.

“They feel like it was very educational, it opened their eyes to see what their options were. They felt like it was a very useful tool and were recommending it to their friends and family. I got a lot of good reviews on it,” the health worker said.

Daniels left her job at the hospital in Florida in September 2021 and she is now a full-time doula.
“I’m a support person for women during their pregnancies,” she said.

She related that traditionally, birth doulas are not medically trained and are only trained in labour and on support mechanisms such as how to help the mother emotionally and physically during child birth.
“So, for me, given that I have the medical background, I’m able to tell the mom and help her make decisions that a traditional doula wouldn’t. Usually, I’m either educating them through their pregnancy so they’ll have full access to asking questions, or during the birth process.

“I’ll go to the actual hospital or wherever they’re delivering and I’ll just be an advocate for them in that setting. Then, after the birth, I usually visit them at home to see how they are transitioning,” Daniels said.

She said that she was excited to publish the book because she felt as though it was her underlying purpose.

“My underlying purpose for me is just to impact the world and I know in motherhood, that’s something that’s that never-ending. There’s always going to be a need for education in that subject, so I felt excited. I felt much fulfilled as if I was fulfilling a commitment that I had made to myself,” Daniels said.

She is currently working on the printed manuscript of her book as it was only published online.

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