Why I Started WeBirthEmpowered

Something has been quiet here for a while. That's about to change, and I wanted the first thing you hear from me to be why.

Before the White Coat

Before I was a department chair. Before I was board-certified. Before any of the titles, I was a woman who believed birth could be different.

I was born in Guyana and moved to Miami chasing a simple dream: to help women feel powerful in one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. I trained at the University of Miami and Albert Einstein Medical Center, and I chose to build my career right here in South Florida, where I've now spent nearly 20 years in the delivery room.

In that time, I've been part of thousands of births. I've seen what happens when a woman walks in informed, supported, and confident in her choices. And I've seen what happens when she doesn't, when she's handed a plan instead of a conversation, when "we recommend" is treated as the end of the discussion instead of the beginning of one.

That gap is the reason WeBirthEmpowered exists.

What I Believe

I believe birth is not something that happens to you. It's something you're an active part of, and that starts with information.

I believe informed consent is a conversation, not a form to sign. I believe questions are always allowed, no matter how far along you are or how many people are in the room. I believe a woman's intuition about her own body deserves real weight in the room, not just her provider's protocol.

And I believe some of the most important options in birth (vaginal birth after cesarean, doula support, vaginal breech delivery, physiologic birth) deserve to be discussed openly, not quietly discouraged because they take more time or fall outside the default.

This isn't about being anti-hospital or anti-provider. It's about making sure every woman knows her options before she's in the room needing to use them.

Why Now

I'm currently running my practice, Serene Health OB/GYN & Wellness, and raising four kids alongside my husband. If you'd asked me a few years ago whether I had room for one more thing, I would have said no.

But this work doesn't feel like "one more thing." It feels like the reason for the others.

I'm also one of a small number of OB/GYNs trained specifically in vaginal breech delivery, a skill that's become rare, even though it doesn't have to be. That's a conversation I'll be having a lot more of here in the coming months, because too many women are told "breech means cesarean" as if it's the only option, when it often isn't.

What This Space Is For

WeBirthEmpowered is where I'll be sharing the things I wish every patient walked in already knowing:

• How to build birth preferences that reflect what actually matters to you
• What informed consent should really sound like in the room
• The truth behind common birth myths, starting with breech birth
• How to advocate for yourself when things shift, because they often do
• Free, evidence-based guides to help you prepare, starting with the Vaginal Birth Optimization Guide

This is for you if you're pregnant right now and want to feel ready, not just hopeful. It's for you if your last birth didn't go the way you expected and you want language for next time. And it's for the doulas, midwives, and providers who already believe what I believe: that women deserve more information, not less.

Let's Begin

Welcome back, or welcome for the first time. I'm glad you're here.

If you want to start preparing right now, grab the free Vaginal Birth Optimization Guide. It walks you through nine evidence-based strategies to prepare your body and your mind for the birth you want.

With gratitude, Dr. Delisa Skeete-Henry, MD, FACOG