Board Vice President. Nursing Professor. PhD(c). Black Maternal Health Advocate. Innovative Thinker. Everything Equity. Everything Coconut. #CIHRDoctoralScholar

Canada
Joined March 2013
It is official 🎉. I am a PhD Candidate! Still taking this one in as it feels especially special. I started my PhD three weeks postpartum at @queensu, with a newborn in my arms and absolutely no idea what it would take to balance motherhood, life, and doctoral studies. It wasn’t easy, but here we are. That tiny baby is now two years old, surrounded by powerful women he has come to know as his “PhD aunties”. I successfully defended my PhD thesis proposal, and I am so excited for what comes next. To my family, thank you for carrying me and making room for this dream. To my supervisor, Dr. @KTerna , thank you for giving me the space to grow into my own voice as a scholar. Your mentorship throughout this journey has meant more to me than I can say. To my wonderful committee, Dr. @pilar_camargo and Dr. @dmacdonald902 , and my examiners, Dr. Katherine McKittrick and Dr. Katie Goldie, thank you for challenging my thinking with support and guidance. I am blessed with the most supportive classmates who created time out of their busy schedules to listen to me rehearse and checked in to encourage me. Now comes the part I have been most excited about: the research itself. I get to listen to and learn from Black women as I explore their experiences and meaning-making of miscarriage in Canada. Being a survivor of miscarriage and stillbirth, I feel so privileged to carry this work forward. What a beautiful milestone! From three weeks postpartum to PhD Candidate 🎉🙏🏿 #BlackMaternalHealthMatters
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Years ago, I had to take a White woman with me to be able to rent an apartment in a predominantly White neighbourhood in Canada. So when we talk about racism in housing, please don’t assume it’s only an American problem. Black people in Canada experience it too. Racism doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it looks like being told a place is suddenly unavailable, being treated differently, or having doors quietly closed. We need to talk about it. We need to acknowledge it. And we need to do better.
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Birgit Umaigba-Omoruyi retweeted
This happened to my mom a couple years ago. Her tongue was so swollen that she nearly couldn't breathe. They know Black folks aren't supposed to take this but prescribe it anyway - the ER doc knew what caused it right away because she had seen other cases
Dear Black people, tell your friends to tell their friends.
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Many years ago, I had to take a White woman with me to be able to rent an apartment in a predominantly White neighborhood right here in Canada. So if you think this type of housing discrimination is only in the U.S., think again. Racism is disgusting. I hope they sue them into oblivion!
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I was told to educate myself about municipal government. So let’s talk about it. Yes, hospitals are primarily a provincial responsibility. But health care doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Ontario municipalities have roles in public health, paramedic services, long-term care, housing and homelessness services, among other areas that directly affect health. Municipalities also work with the province and contribute to funding and delivering some health and social services. So yes, municipal elections have health care implications. I’m not saying your mayor controls Ontario hospitals. I’m saying local government decisions affect the conditions in which people live, get sick, receive care and recover. October 26. Go vote. #onpoli
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Make it make sense - 24 Registered Nurses (RNs) laid off from one unit at an Ontario hospital, with patients having to be relocated. The entire unit was shut down. We keep talking about nursing shortages, yet nurses are being laid off. Ontario continues to have the lowest RN to population ratio in all of Canada, yet nurses continue to be cut. What is going on? October 26th is election day. Please vote. Your vote matters because not only is health care political, everything is. #onpoli
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In the middle of a demanding shift, this nurse took the time to wash, brush and style her patient’s hair. It may seem small, but it wasn’t. It was dignity. It was compassion. It was making a patient feel human. It’s the little things.
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I don’t know who needs to hear this - I can speak about racism and still have White friends. Both can be true. I speak about racism because it exists, because I’ve experienced it, and because I believe silence won’t change it. I’m also grateful for the White friends and allies who listen, learn, speak up and stand with me. Calling out racism is not hating White people. It’s calling for better.
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I FINALLY FOUND MY SISTER! 🥹 When someone speaks about anti-racism in nursing and you’re like… YES! THIS! Thank you for using your voice. We need more people willing to speak up. instagram.com/reel/Dep9CEfu3…
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New nurses shouldn’t have to medicate their way through work. If nurses are experiencing so much anxiety that medication becomes necessary just to get through their shifts, we need to look beyond the individual. Is it the nurse who needs fixing, or the working conditions? Unsafe workloads, inadequate staffing and chronic stress cannot become the normal price of being a nurse. We need action. I hope you’re voting this season! #onpoli
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Birgit Umaigba-Omoruyi retweeted
Master of Public Policy, Administration and Law - York University 🇨🇦. To God be all the glory. 🙏🏾
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This is what we mean when we say, “everything is political”, so vote like your life depends on it, because truly, it does. We have so much to learn from these youths.
AMAZING! Republican election officials denied NC A&T campus an early-voting site. Students marched about 45 minutes each way to vote ANYWAY! Put up barriers to voting, and don’t be surprised when people get angry, get organized, and bring even MORE voters to the polls!
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