Q and A with Moriah from Nashville, Tennessee

“…I know that my hard work and faith in God will lead me to exactly where I’m meant to be.”

Q: What are you passionate about?

A: I’m a certified pediatric sleep consultant and postpartum nurse helping parents all around the world! I am passionate about educating and assisting parents (specifically first-time parents) to fully embrace the transition of parenthood with ease.

I knew I wanted to work in the labor and delivery setting from a very young age, so after working a couple years in the ER setting, I was ecstatic when I found out I could finally work my dream job. I am a postpartum nurse who also helps with deliveries, but more so the baby side.

I absolutely love what I do, and I love being able to connect with my patients on a deep level and support them through this sometimes scary journey. I currently still work as a postpartum nurse, but since having two kids, I have had to become creative with earning an income while staying at home with them more, especially since finding out my youngest son has a rare genetic condition that requires four types of therapies every week. So, I’ve just learned to help people more virtually, and see how I can help them with challenges they face before or after having their baby!

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: Life has always been a fight for me; I spent most of my elementary school years in the hospital with epilepsy that no doctor could figure out the root cause of. By the grace of God, I outgrew them by the age of 10. I am the youngest of four siblings; my oldest brothers are 17 and 13 years older than me, and my sister is five years older than me. I’m not very close with my brothers due to the age gap, and my sister has struggled with severe mental illness since she was a teenager. I’ve had to keep a brave face on for a long time, and I’m sure that’s what has helped with my perseverance through life. I worked through high school to save up for college since my parents used every dime; they had to support me and my sister medically.

I applied for every scholarship you could think of for my senior year because I was determined to go to a university right out of high school, not the junior college my parents wanted me to. I distinctly remember them telling me one day after sitting in a seminar at Murray State University listening to the finance portion; they would not pay for my schooling unless I went to a junior college first. For my own mental health, I could not stay home any longer. I told them no, and that I would figure it out. I will never forget the look they gave me thinking, “Oh, how naïve of her. She has no idea.” There was always a common theme in my life of people underestimating me. No more.

After applying for scholarships like it was my full-time job, I received somewhere around $24,000 in scholarships for me to go to Murray State University. I did everything I could to prevent myself from pulling out student loans. My high school sweetheart–now my husband–and I moved to Murray and were able to work through college and not pull out a single student loan. We both received bachelor’s degrees. I remember thinking to myself: “This is it; all your hard work has paid off.” What a great feeling, all because I knew what I was capable of, even when others didn’t see it.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Something valuable I want people to get out of this story is that life can throw anything and everything at you, but I want you to always know that there’s an answer; you just might have to dig to find it. I always joke with myself when people tell me the word “No,” I always hear “We’ll see,” in my head. If there’s a will, there’s a way. I still have a long way to go in my journey until I feel like I’m in a place of comfort. But I know that my hard work and faith in God will lead me to exactly where I’m meant to be.

Q: What does feminism mean to you?

A: To me, feminism means empowerment. It means that you can do whatever you want, no matter what gender society puts on things. I was never the girly type growing up. I always loved going with my dad to his construction sites when he needed to put electrical wiring in a house. I honestly loved doing things that made people confused ha-ha! I loved dressing up in pretty dresses and putting on my kid-friendly makeup from time to time. However, I also loved running barefoot through the woods, getting muddy, riding four-wheelers, shooting shotguns, really just anything. Being a woman, we have secret skills, and sometimes it’s fun to bring them out when people least expect them. For example, I LOVE using my power tools to do DIY projects around my house.

So, when there’s a man in my house who doesn’t know me really well, I love to see their reaction when I tell them I ship-lapped my whole fireplace and hammered each nail in one by one…while being about 13 months postpartum. I love it when people just can’t quite seem to figure you out. However, there are times when I’m glad to be a woman, so I don’t have to deal with certain things. For example, when I worked in the ER, I worked with a lot of men. We all have the same job, we do the same work. When I have a combative patient, I love the fact that I can just walk away and know that my male coworkers will take care of it because they don’t want me to get hurt. So, long story short, feminism means to me that you can choose who you want to be, and how you want the world to see you. I love that feeling.

MORE ABOUT MORIAH: My goal is to build my community of beautiful mothers who might’ve had some tough things happen in their lives. I would love to support my family more financially by staying home, earning an income online, and controlling how much I am working at the hospital by “want” and not “needing a paycheck.” I know in my heart that I need to be home with my little boys, so I cannot wait to see what this business will bring in the future.

If any of this resonates with you, please feel free to reach out to me! You are not alone, and the greatest pressure creates the most beautiful diamonds!

Moriah Zwick RN, BSN
@Your Postpartum Nurse LLC
Nashville, TN

Thanks for reading!