My name is Marisa Noelle Colon and the only thing I've ever wanted to do with my life is usher in the lives of others. That dream would prove to be far more complex than I ever could've fathomed.
My roots are firmly planted in ancestral midwifery, with a deep appreciation for the modern tools and skills we have acquired over the centuries that allow us to safely care for birthing bodies and babies while honoring autonomy. I started this journey in Charlotte, NC after the homebirth of my first daughter born on her brother's birthday in August 2015. This work truly started for me years before I ever birthed my children, when I attended my first birth and become an advocate and an educator for autonomous birth with a focus on honoring physiologic birth when safely possible and desired. I knew I wanted to be a Midwife, but in 2007 when I graduated high school no one knew what out of hospital Midwifery was, doulas weren't even a thing! I was constantly directed down the path of CNM and that never felt right so I worked in the medical system until I finally decided to pursue it. Then I got pregnant.
After the birth of my firstborn, I did not want to be complicit in birth as it was in hospitals. I was told, by my black nurse, if I didn't make it through the first labor without the epidural I never would. Of course, I got the epidural. After refusing induction for 42 weeks I was coerced into Pitocin and hitched a ride on the rollercoaster of interventions as it was, which ended in an unnecessary vacuum delivery, thrush from antibiotics I was given without consent that I didn't need, and trauma I had no idea I was toting around. I knew I wasn't stepping foot into another hospital without an emergent reason ever again. I went on to birth my 4 subsequent babies, including the twins who changed my life, at home. I have supported hundreds of families autonomously and mostly in the comfort of their own homes or birth centers both virtually and in person across the globe, now it is finally time for me to obtain licensure in the state of Florida. After many years of going back and forth about how I would move forward on this journey, it has become clear that obtaining licensure is the wisest way for me to meet the needs of my community. Black and Indigenous midwives will always be the solution to our disparities. My dream is to offer that safe space so my communities can bring life into this world in the most sacred and joyful ways possible.
The road to licensure for a black midwife is paved with plenty of barriers, racism, gatekeeping and financial obscurity turned ruin for far too many of us, myself included. The cost of my tuition is 40K, we have been a family of 7 with 5 small children operating on one income just barely making it work. We needed the help then, but it is now that my husband's entire department was laid off, that I have pushed beyond my comfort zone to ask. Despite my panicked protests, I have been encouraged to remain in school and so I will do whatever it takes to stay in.
I am about to begin Year 2, Semester 1 of Midwifery School, and as excited as I would love to be, this has been an arduous journey, made nearly impossible now with the loss of my husband's income. In addition to tuition, this GoFundMe will also contribute to my family's living expenses while I serve birthing families and continue my education. As a student, I am both unpaid and unable to work due to the intensity of the curriculum and demands of the program, so your contributions are deeply appreciated and further the goal of more black and indigenous midwives.
In helping me you are helping all whom I serve both presently and in the future, this now includes my family, and for that, I am infinitely grateful.