Nursing Professor Lucinda Canty Shares Her Journey at Pizza and Prof
By Nina Prenosil; Photos by Theo Nims
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Honors College students, staff, and faculty gathered in the Honors Hub on Thursday, November 16 at 4:00 p.m. to hear from Lucinda Canty, associate professor in the nursing department, at the Fall 2023 edition of CHC's signature Pizza and Prof event. To begin the event Ann Marie Russell, CHC associate dean of student recruitment, inclusion, and success, introduced who Canty is and how she found her way to higher education.
At the beginning of her talk “My Journey – from Student Nurse to Maternal Health Expert”, Canty shared the joy and community she has found during her time at UMass Amherst since she joined the faculty in 2022.
Canty then discussed how her research centers on the voices of Black women because she has found that racial disparities run so deep, especially in the healthcare system.
“Now I’m in a space where I can uplift our history and our voices,” she explained.
Beginnings at Columbia University
Canty noted that she did not know she wanted to go to nursing school until she was a sophomore in college. When she decided to go into nursing she did not want to go far from home though. After applying to several schools, Canty was told by her guidance counselor to prepare for rejection by every institution. At the time she felt discouraged, Canty explained, until she received her decisions from the colleges and found out she was accepted into all of them but one.
After two years studying at Hartford College for Women and then decided she wanted to apply to Columbia University. When Canty arrived at Columbia she knew she had something to offer but was not sure where it would bring her. That was until she saw a woman give birth in the hallway of a hospital and a nurse midwife jumped in effortlessly to aide her.
After her time at Columbia, she began doing hands-on work as a midwife working 12-hour shifts. Once she had her son Ryan, she began working in Philadelphia, PA, at St. Joseph’s University in the maternal clinician department. Canty found her place in higher education and eventually returned to school at the University of Connecticut to receive her PhD. It was during this time she was able to combine her love for nursing and passion for researching racial disparities in maternal and infant health.
“This led me on my journey to understand maternal mortality,” Canty explained.
Sharing her journey through art
Canty also expressed her passion for her work through art. During her talk she shared with us the pieces that represent the struggles of Black pregnant women.
Not only does she create expressive art, but Canty also worked alongside a team to create the documentary: RNs reckoning with racism. It is set to be released in early 2024 and was filmed entirely through Zoom where Canty and other team members interviewed 37 nurses of color. Canty shared that in the first Zoom meeting, it was comprised of 60 percent white nurses who said they were participating because they wanted to do better.
Much of Canty’s work is now centered on educating healthcare providers about history, implicit bias, racism in healthcare, maternal health equity, protecting pregnant Black women, and connecting with the community.
“The thing I love the most is working in the community,” she said.
Canty shared that one of her greatest projects is the work she does with Lucinda’s House, which is an organization that “exists to create environments where women of color feel safe, supported, and can become an active part in eliminating structural barriers to improve their overall health and wellbeing.” The mission is to address the needs of Black women with actionable initiatives to improve maternal health outcomes. One of the events Lucinda’s House hosts is a Community Baby Shower, held in Hartford and New Haven in Connecticut.
“My goal is for maternal health equity, regardless of where they are,” Canty noted.
After finishing her presentation, the floor opened to questions.
One student asked, “As a certified nurse midwife did you work in tandem with obstetricians?”
“Yes, when I was working in the hospital… things were very medicalized, 'if she [the mother] is not so and so centimeters send her home' they would say. It was a force that I was against…We do a lot to interfere, we do a lot to make birth seem like a disease…we put a stress on the person that is in labor. When I first started delivering the obstetrician had to come watch and obstetricians are trained to handle problems,” Canty replied.
Another student in attendance asked, “Did you ever work with doulas during your time as a midwife?”
(A doula is a woman employed to provide guidance and support to the mother of a newborn baby.)
“Yes, I love the support that they are able to bring. Labor is not a disease or a pathology to give birth. It is wonderful to have someone with you who knows the process of birth,” Canty explained.
Another student asked, “Can you speak more to why in the western world they encourage women to give birth laying down?’
“The only reason they [doctors] do it that way is because they have more control that way. If they are in bed, it makes labor longer…It is all about control,” Canty said.
Wrapping up her talk with final words of advice, Canty explained that she wanted the audience to understand that finding your voice is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. She then shared with us the very first poem that she wrote, “The Invitation”.
“I was invited to the party, but I was not allowed to dance.” The poem continued, “I was given a seat at the table, but wasn’t allowed to speak.” It concluded with the line, "Maybe just maybe, I was not expected to accept the invitation.” This poem intends to highlight the silencing of Black female voices.
After the event concluded, Canty spoke with several of the students one-on-one to further share her wisdom and insight.
At the end of the night, I spoke with Canty, and she shared with me that:
"It was great to speak with the students personally, I got to chat with a student of color interested in maternal health and that is what makes moments like these so important.”
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Nina Prenosil
Nina Prenosil is a communications assistant in Commonwealth Honors College.
