Nkay is a Traditional Apprentice Midwife serving families throughout the Baltimore–Washington region with a deep commitment to culturally centered, respectful, and holistic maternity care. Widely recognized for her dedication to Black and minority families, Nikita has spent over a decade supporting women through fertility, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with compassion, clinical rigor, and ancestral reverence.
Born and raised in Baltimore City, Nikita later relocated to suburban Maryland at age 19, where her personal journey into motherhood profoundly shaped her professional calling. Becoming a mother at 16 with the steadfast support of her married parents, she developed an early passion for maternal health and a determination to serve women during some of life’s most transformative moments. This experience inspired her pursuit of a career in labor and delivery and ultimately midwifery.
In 2013, Nikita began her formal clinical training by earning her Nursing Assistant Certification at the Gandhi School in Pikesville, Maryland. She then advanced her medical training at Brown’s Career Institute, where she became both a Patient Care Technician and Certified Phlebotomist. That same year, she entered the field of obstetrics as an OB Surgical Technician at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., completing the hospital’s in-house Surgical Technology Program and receiving extensive on-the-job training in high-acuity maternity care.
Over the next five years, Nikita worked across multiple labor and delivery units throughout the DMV, including Sibley Memorial Hospital, The George Washington University Hospital, St. Agnes Hospital, Providence Hospital, StoneSprings Hospital Center, Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, and MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. During this time, she gained firsthand experience in operative births, maternal emergencies, and interdisciplinary obstetric care—knowledge that continues to inform her midwifery practice today.
In 2019, recognizing the limitations of hospital-based care for families seeking autonomy and holistic support, Nikita transitioned from surgical technology to birthwork as a doula and student midwife. That same year, she founded DMV Birth Doulas, LLC, a full-spectrum doula practice dedicated to empowering families through personalized, evidence-informed, and culturally affirming support.
In 2020, Nikita launched The Black Doula Training, LLC, an accessible, low-cost educational program designed to increase diversity in the birthwork profession and prepare aspiring doulas for professional practice. Many graduates of the program have gone on to serve families in community settings and within DMV Birth Doulas’ professional network.
In December 2024, Nikita successfully fulfilled the hands-on training and skills checklist requirements ine PEP process as an Apprentice Midwife including observing 10 births as a doula, assisting in 20 births as an assistant under licensed midwives, and attending 30 births as a primary student under direct supervision. Throughout her training, she worked under the mentorship and clinical supervision of respected midwives across the Mid-Atlantic region, including:
Bayla Berkowitz, CNM (Pikesville, MD)
Monika Karaosman, CPM (Berlin, MD)
Elder Midwife Maureen McIver, CPM (Pennsylvania)
Ryann Bernard, CPM, JD (Alexandria, VA)
These mentors evaluated her clinical skills, birth outcomes, and professional competencies, affirming her readiness to practice midwifery in community and out-of-hospital settings.
Today, Nikita is the owner of The House of Gloria Fertility & Birth, a sacred, boutique midwifery and fertility practice in Ellicott City, Maryland. Her work blends traditional midwifery principles with modern clinical standards, offering families holistic fertility care, homebirth midwifery, and comprehensive postpartum support. She is particularly known for her dedication to informed consent, physiologic birth, and culturally grounded care that honors Black maternal health and ancestral birth traditions.
Nikita remains deeply invested in education, mentorship, and advocacy for maternal health equity. Through her clinical practice, training programs, and community outreach, she continues to expand access to respectful, culturally aligned birth care for families across Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
