Janell Green Smith, a certified nurse-midwife known as the “Loc’d Midwife”, has died from complications shortly after giving birth to her first child, a daughter.
Smith worked at a community birth centre in Charleston.
She delivered more than 200 babies during her career.
She was certified as a nurse-midwife in 2021.
She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2024.
Smith focused on equitable care for Black women.
She supported Black Maternal Health Week through the Hive Impact Fund app.
She provided prenatal care, attended deliveries, guided postpartum recovery and educated patients on medical warning signs.
The American College of Nurse-Midwives described her death as a “profound failure of systems meant to protect birthing people”.
Human rights groups, including In Our Own Voice, called it evidence of a “deeply broken and racist system” that fails Black women.
Vigils have been held in Charleston to mourn her.
Community members have pledged to raise her daughter in her honour.
Smith lost her mother in 2023.
She paused studies briefly but continued her work.
Her colleagues remember her as a clinician, educator and mentor.
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