Ateker TV 
The very crisis she fought to end has claimed one of its most passionate warriors. Janell Green Smith, a certified nurse-midwife from Charleston, South Carolina known affectionately as the “Loc’d Midwife,” died from childbirth complications shortly after giving birth to her first child, a daughter.
Smith, who was certified in 2021 and recently earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2024, was a dedicated force addressing the Black maternal health crisis.
Throughout her career, she delivered over 200 babies and mentored future midwives at a community birth center, emphasizing patient-centered care for women whose pain is often dismissed.
Her work was urgently needed. Black women in the U.S. face pregnancy-related mortality rates three times higher than white women.
Smith worked tirelessly to combat this disparity, providing prenatal care, attending deliveries, guiding postpartum recovery, and educating patients through her role at Charleston’s birth center and via platforms like the Hive Impact Fund.
Her tragic death has sent shockwaves through the medical community. The American College of Nurse-Midwives called it “a profound failure of systems meant to protect birthing people.”
Human rights groups like In Our Own Voice condemn the “deeply broken and racist system” her death exemplifies a system that failed a highly educated healthcare professional who understood the risks better than most.
Smith’s passing underscores a harrowing reality: knowledge and expertise are no shield against systemic inequity.
As advocates mourn her loss, they reaffirm that her life’s mission to create a safer, more equitable birthing world for Black women is now a more urgent legacy than ever.
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