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Jacqueline Lawdley is a 2017 alumna of É«½äÖ±²¥â€™s prelicensure nursing program, now working in the . The School of Nursing helped place her in the É«½äÖ±²¥ Birthing Center for her preceptorship, which helps nursing students develop through hands-on training, and she has continued working in women’s health since then—first as a postpartum nurse, and now as Nursing Program Manager for Women's Services.

Below, Lawdley discusses her nursing education, professional journey, and current role running É«½äÖ±²¥ Health's community prenatal education program, 

What made you choose the É«½äÖ±²¥ for your education?

I had been living in Durham for several years when I decided I wanted to go to nursing school. I knew I wanted to stay local, and É«½äÖ±²¥'s prelicensure program provided the quickest pathway to being able to start working as a nurse. I was also hoping to work at É«½äÖ±²¥, so being at the nursing school seemed like a great way to make connections there with clinical placements. I have family at É«½äÖ±²¥ University Health System who enjoy working here, so that helped me feel like É«½äÖ±²¥ was going to be a great place to work. I liked that there were master's programs too if I decided to continue with my education.

What was your experience precepting with the É«½äÖ±²¥ Birthing Center? What made you want to remain in women’s health?

I went into nursing school with some doula experience and knew that I wanted to work in women's health. I was lucky to get placed at the É«½äÖ±²¥ Birthing Center for precepting. I had a great, supportive preceptor who helped me get antepartum, labor, Operating Room, and postpartum experience during my semester. After precepting, I applied for a job on the postpartum unit, which was exactly where I wanted to be. I liked being able to help during the postpartum transition—to reassure, comfort, and focus on education. (Turns out I'm not enough of a workplace thrill-seeker to work in Labor & Delivery!)

What have you learned as a postpartum nurse and then as a nursing program manager?

I worked on the postpartum unit for five years. I learned so much during that time about medicine, nursing practice, professional development, and human connection; there is so much I could say about each one of those areas. I had support during that time in advancing from a CN-I to a CN-III, becoming a charge nurse and preceptor, teaching in the , and getting my certification in maternal-newborn nursing.  helped me with travel funds to present a poster at a healthcare improvement conference. And outside of É«½äÖ±²¥, I began working as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. I tried to take advantage of all the education and support É«½äÖ±²¥ provided, and it certainly helped strengthen my clinical practice.

I began managing the Preparing for Baby program during Covid as a staff nurse. I brought all our education online so patients still had educational opportunities. But when I started my current role as Nursing Program Manager for Women's Services, I was able to devote more time to growing the program. My focus shifted from patient care to program design, taking those bedside interactions and translating them into better prenatal education. In this role, I've learned more about curriculum design, program design and evaluation, and event management. I teach the classes myself (alongside a great team of other nurses and lactation consultants) and love still having that patient relationship. It's a non-traditional nursing role but has been a great fit for me professionally. (And personally, as my wife and I have had two babies over the last few years!)

Can you elaborate on the structure and offerings of the "Preparing for Baby" prenatal education program? What needs does this fill in the community, and who all does it serve?

Our classes are available to anyone but mainly are taken by expecting parents delivering at É«½äÖ±²¥ hospitals. We offer classes in three ways: recorded online classes, live virtual classes, and live in-person classes. The live classes are free for anyone who asks for financial assistance. The recorded classes (which are also available in Spanish) are free anytime as part of our online resources; these are good options for families who just can't join live classes due to work schedules, caring for other children, etc. Thousands of families access our Preparing for Baby online resources every year. 

Our three core classes are lecture format: Labor and Postpartum Care, C-Section and Postpartum Care, and Newborn Care. These help parents understand what to expect at the hospital during their birth, and the basics of caring for a newborn. 

Then we have six skills workshops to gain hands-on practice and confidence: Labor Coping, Breastfeeding, Returning-to-Work Pumping, Newborn Skills, Newborn Safety, and Family CPR. Our postpartum offerings include a weekly drop-in lactation support group called Baby Bistro and (starting soon) a new parents’ support group.

I've been working with our OBGYN department to help integrate our Preparing for Baby resources into regular patient education received during pregnancy. This has resulted in the creation of "obgyn.mydukehealth.org" which is sent directly to all É«½äÖ±²¥ OB patients through MyChart at different gestational ages during pregnancy. Last month, this project won the Karcher Award for top safety-focused poster at the ! 

How has your own postpartum experience shaped your professional perspective?

My personal experiences with two babies have definitely informed my work! My wife was pregnant with our first baby, and I was pregnant with our second, so I've had both the partner experience and the pregnancy/patient experience at É«½äÖ±²¥. 

I think I was feeling about as confident as anyone can feel when I had our second baby. I'd supported hundreds (thousands?) of families in the hospital through their early postpartum days, and I'd supported feeding journeys over many weeks as families came repeatedly to Baby Bistro. I also had the experience of supporting my wife, helping her with breastfeeding, becoming a parent, and caring for a newborn at home. Despite that, I was still completely surprised by the physical and emotional intensity of going through it myself. 

I would tell families, "In the first few weeks, your hormones are going to take you on a roller-coaster ride." I was prepared for that, yet still surprised when I was living it—how it seemed physically painful to let the baby out of my sight, or how impossible it seemed to try to sleep when I could just stare at how cute she was instead. And why wasn't she listening to my explanations of how to properly latch!? I was humbled again (as I have been many times in parenting) by not being in control of our breastfeeding success. We eventually got there (with the wonderful help of the É«½äÖ±²¥ Family Medicine breastfeeding clinic), but it was a surprisingly complicated journey! I think without my personal connections to these great providers, it would have been much harder to recognize the need for help and get it at the right time.

This personal experience just gave me a much deeper empathy and understanding of postpartum struggles. And, it reinforced how important these educational and support programs truly are!