MEET DR. DEE
I know pregnancy from both sides.
The woman who has lived it.
The clinician who knows we can do better.
I’m Dr. Demetrice Smith—a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Family Nurse Practitioner, wife, mama, baby catcher, and birth nerd.
I’ve spent years caring for women through pregnancy and birth. But some of the lessons that shaped me most came when I was the woman in the bed instead of the provider standing beside it.
And that changed everything!
THE PART OF MY STORY YOU CAN'T SEE
You’d never know four children are missing from this family photo
Our story includes joy
It also includes loss
At 25 weeks pregnant, after already experiencing a miscarriage, I gave birth to our daughter, Tristin. She weighed just 1 pound, 8 ounces. For six weeks, we loved her, hoped for her, and watched her fight. Then we lost her to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).
I was a Labor & Delivery nurse and close to becoming a Nurse Practitioner. I knew the terminology. I understood what the monitors meant. I knew what questions to ask. And none of that made me less of a mother who had just lost her baby.
Pregnancy after loss came with a different kind of fear. During my pregnancy with Trinity, cervical insufficiency led to an emergency procedure and months of bed rest before she arrived healthy at 40 weeks. With Taelyn, we were able to take preventive measures earlier in pregnancy, and she was born without complications.
Our family would also experience an ectopic pregnancy and another miscarriage before welcoming our son, Trebor Jr., who arrived at 35 weeks.
Four children are missing from this photo-
But they are not missing from my story
They shaped the mother I became. And they changed the clinician I would become.
I KNEW THE MEDICAL LANGUAGE
But I was still
the patient.
I knew what the monitors meant. I understood the terminology. I knew which questions to ask. But knowledge didn’t make me immune to fear, grief, uncertainty, or the need to feel heard.
Being on both sides of healthcare changed the way I practice. It taught me that good care is about more than knowing what to do clinically. It’s also about seeing the woman in front of you.
A healthy outcome does not erase
an unhealthy experience.
I never forgot what it felt like to be her
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
When I’m not talking about birth...
01 — DANCE FLOOR
You’ll probably find me dancing.
I’ve been known to go to a wedding reception just to dance all night.
02 — CHRISTMAS
Christmas starts in October.
And I will not be taking questions about it. 😂
03 — MOVIE NIGHT
The Five Heartbeats. Again.
Still one of my all-time favorite movies.
OKAY, ENOUGH ABOUT ME
Now, let’s talk about you.
You don’t have to know everything or have all the right questions. And you definitely don’t have to figure pregnancy out by yourself.
Whether you need help making sense of your options, preparing for what’s ahead, or simply need a midwife in your corner-you can start right where you are.
It’s safe to take your cape off here