What happens when capability is judged before it’s understood? Jaye sits down for part 2 of her conversation with with Jennifer Evans Rice—a mom of three, registered nurse, and advocate who is losing her vision—to talk about parenting beyond sight, building real safety systems, and refusing pity that masks control. The conversation starts with a hard question about trust and childcare and opens into a masterclass on practical strategies, emotional resilience, and community that actually helps.

Jennifer breaks down the everyday tactics that make blind parenting work: orienting within a home, sound-forward games to track kids, bells and hair beads as location cues, and smart choices about spaces—gated parks, backyards, and jungle gyms she’s willing to climb right alongside her children. She’s candid about what changed when she lost vision as an adult, from driving and work to identity and agency, and how acceptance pushed her to innovate rather than outsource. If help is offered from solidarity, she embraces it; if it’s fueled by pity, she declines. That boundary is a lesson for every caregiver and ally.

We also get honest about how to ask sensitive questions without causing harm, how to build “sister mommy friend” networks across difference, and why overhelping can quietly undermine growth. Jennifer’s three-day rule for grief—feel it, then move on—anchors a powerful pledge to her daughters: their lives won’t be smaller because their mom is blind. Expect humor, warmth, and straight talk about body autonomy, safety, advocacy, and the Black mom magic that turns constraints into craft.

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What does it look like to parent boldly when sight fades but purpose sharpens? We sit down with Jennifer, a blind mom of three and former RN, to trace the real steps—messy, methodical, and joyful—that turn fear into a family rhythm. From leaving a decade-long nursing career to mastering vision rehab, she shares how cooking by touch, organizing a kid-safe home, and using assistive technology can rebuild independence without diluting warmth or play.

We dig into the moment pregnancy and postpartum hormones accelerated her vision loss and how she chose to keep growing her family anyway. That choice wasn’t denial—it was informed by examples of thriving blind parents and a toolkit of resources: orientation and mobility training, screen readers and voice control, OCR and navigation apps, and the collective wisdom of groups like the Blind Parent Alliance, the National Federation of the Blind, and local Commissions for the Blind. We talk transportation, park safety, labeling systems, and the tiny routines that make big challenges manageable.

There’s a deeper cultural layer here too. Jennifer speaks honestly about faith, secrecy, and the pressure to stay quiet in Black communities. Her stance is both/and: hold hope and build a plan. Partners may accept at different speeds; kids learn empathy by living access every day. Through humor and candor—“I can’t drive, but I can do almost everything else”—she flips the script on disability, replacing pity with skills and agency. If you or someone you love is navigating blindness, you’ll leave with practical starting points and a renewed sense that motherhood can thrive outside the margins others draw.

If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help more families find tools, community, and courage.

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Go to www.melinatedmoms.com/podcast for individual and corporate sponsorship information.

What if the most powerful tool for safer births starts long before a positive test? We take a clear-eyed look at preventable maternal morbidity and map the path from awareness to action—spanning preconception choices, pregnancy care, and the often overlooked postpartum window. Through honest storytelling and practical guidance, we connect family language, partner health, and historical shifts in birth practices to the outcomes parents live with today.

We break down how hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disease intersect with fertility and pregnancy, why sperm quality and partner habits matter more than most people realize, and how terms like the pressure and the sugars can hide the urgency of real diagnoses. We also surface under-discussed risks—disability during pregnancy, autoimmune flares, seizures, and the rise in postpartum preeclampsia—while giving listeners a framework for better questions at every appointment. Advocacy sits at the center: using lived experience to demand clarity, counter bias, and secure accountability from systems that too often ignore marginalized families.

You’ll hear a deeply personal account of being labeled high risk without context, and how learning the language of care transformed fear into informed choice. We talk about rebuilding trust in the birthing process, honoring midwifery roots, and widening the circle by educating boys, men, and all genders whose decisions shape outcomes. The goal isn’t to simply survive birth—it’s to create a legacy of prevention, where knowledge, community, and accountability travel from one generation to the next.

If this conversation sparks something in you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review. Your voice helps this community grow—and your questions could be the lifeline another parent is waiting for.

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Support the show

Make sure to subscribe on all platforms where you listen to your favorite podcasts, and make sure to like and share!

Become a paid subscriber for exclusive bonus content or become a donating listening supporter.

Go to www.melinatedmoms.com/podcast for individual and corporate sponsorship information.