Hello friends! My name is Nicky Dawkins, I am a Full Circle Reproductive Health Doula, Hormonal Health Coach, and Activist based in Miami, FL. I am the mother of two beautiful little ones who keep me quite busy. I have a huge passion for reproductive health, and over the years launched several ventures to honor the wellness of women, particularly mothers.

I started Menstrual Doula because I deeply believe in the power of our menstrual cycles, as well as body literacy and autonomy for all. We all have the ability to tap into our wombs, but often don't have the knowledge, tools, or safe space to do so. That is what Menstrual Doula is all about! Welcome home sis.

Let's Work!

Nicky Dawkins is a Certified Full Circle Doula, Certified Hormonal Health Practitioner, herbalist, speaker, author, mentor, and mother. She is the creator of Menstrual Doula, a unique series of programs, events, and gatherings that empower women and menstruators to reclaim the power of their womb. Nicky’s teaching combines traditional methods of ancestral and experience-based practices with evidence-based information.

Her work as an educator and activist in the reproductive health space has impacted the lives and uteruses of thousands of people. After years in the game, Nicky was affectionately dubbed as the first ever “Menstrual Doula” by NBC legal analyst and TV host, Katie Phang.

She has been called on as a menstrual and maternal health expert for sites such as NPR, Yahoo! Health, VeryWell Family, Washington Post, Telemundo, and NBC. She has collaborated and worked with reproductive health activists Keli Garza, Latham Thomas, Dr. Charis Chambers (The Period Doctor), Nicole Jardim, Ricki Lake, Abbi Epstein, and Shawnee Benson. Nicky is also the host of The Menarche, a podcast and live monthly gathering for BIPOC menstruators of all ages to chat openly about their cycles held in different locations throughout South Florida.

She is also the proud founder and host of Werk it Moms, a community and resource hub focused on the day-to-day experiences of minority moms. In 2023, she founded Menstrual Market, Inc a non-profit focused on raising awareness and research for menstrual health conditions through education and the arts. Nicky sits as Vice Board Chair for the charity organizations Miami Diaper Bank and No One Births Alone. She also founded the PERIOD Miami Community Center serves as the Miami Community Education Coordinator for national non-profit organization PERIOD, Inc.

MEET THE MENSTRUAL DOULA

MY STORY

The journey between my body and I began at 10 years old when I got my first period. To be honest, it wasn’t a traumatic experience for me. But what came after was!

Fortunately, my mother had done a great job of telling me what to expect from my body when she noticed my breast starting to form. Her mother was a health teacher herself in Jamaica, so she always used the proper words - enter ‘vagina” and was very calm about it. But it did take my menarche for her to fully give me the rundown on what my period meant. Our convos about puberty went from a sweet, nurturing chats to a fear-based lectures just like that.

We all know those common phrases like - ” You are a woman now” back then were really just a way of saying that having a period meant I could get pregnant, so be careful! Mind you, like many other young girls my age, I had no idea what went on in between that could cause pregnancy - nor was I interested in that yet. But that message “You are a woman now” was engraved in my brain every month from then until I graduated from high school.

My real relationship with my cycle began I was 17. I thought my period was pretty normal, PMS, cramps were all a part of it right? But I began to get curious about birth control which all the girls in my grade were talking about. They claimed it made their periods go away, their boobs bigger, and that they less pimples too? Where do sign!?

So right after my 18th birthday I went to college and Miami and got a prescription for the pill from the campus clinic, with very little explanation of the side effects or even why I wanted it at all. The pill made me gain weight, which I welcomed at the time, but it also sent my moog swings all over the place. About 9 months later, I decided to experiment and try the NuvaRing, which was prescribed by the campus clinic with a pamphlet and an appointment to follow up 6 months later.

It gave me constant yeast infections and threw my cycle off completely. I would get my period one month and not another, then get it 3 months in a row. After 16 months on NuvaRing, I ditched birth control and deep dived researched into cycle tracking, herbs, and condoms.

JUST LIKE THAT, MY WORLD CHANGED

Once I learned how to tap into my cycle, track it, and master it - I felt like a brand new woman! There were no apps at this time yet, but I lived my planner calendar. I was already eating better, sleeping more, being more productive and engaging. Something about knowing when my period would arrive, when to have sex, when to take it easy made me feel like I had my body back. I felt more in control of my life in general, because I had learned to live cyclically.

When my son was conceived, I was well aware of my cycle and the possibility of pregnancy. We actively chose not to use protection, so I became pregnant with my son. And I knew it the moment I missed my period, because at that point I had become totally in sync with my womb. Even though it wasn't planned, I felt like I had control and I made the choice. I built an amazing birth team that supported my holistic path, stepped back into my island roots, and meditated daily. Early morning on August 2, 2015, my son was immediately welcomed, and I was ecstatic meet him.

The birth of my son birthed a new mom, a doula, a new cyclical being. It forced me to face my darkest fears about myself, the type of mother I wanted to be, the role I wanted to play in this world that suddenly looked so completely different. The birth was the beginning of a purge, a deep dive into my family history, a beautiful reopening of my soul. Within one year, I dropped my entertainment career, my high rise luxury apartment, my full time job, and my sad little side hustle. It was a long, full blown detoxication.

I ALSO DETOXED MY RELATIONSHIPS...

AND RECLAIMED MY CYCLE

Letting go of toxic relationships, friendships, co-workerships was ALL a part of this new beginning. But it was also a tapping into my old ancestral knowledge, the granny doula and herbalist I always knew was there. I had always been the period girl to my friends, I had always supported their losses, abortions, births and life transitions. The shedding of the toxic cycle reminded me of who I already was and who I would continue to grow into. It lead me to new path I never thought was possible - a flourishing doula career.

THAT’S WHEN I REALIZED I MIGHT BE ON TO SOMETHING

When I started my womb work in 2015 as a yoni steaming practitioner (shoutout Keli at Steamy Chick) I learned that so many women were disconnected from their menstrual cycles. I launched Werk it Moms in 2018 and I became a full circle doula that same year (shout Latham Thomas at Mama Glow). But even though my focus at the time was on maternal health, I would find myself asking my clients about their first periods. The responses often blew my mind, but their stories gave me great insight to their very first relationship with their bodies and what it would mean for their birth experience. What happens in those moments where someone experiences menstruation for the first time MATTERS. That is because have learned over the years that your first period story plays right into your birth, loss, postpartum, menopause and all the other first-time, in-between things your body will do as a women. IT ALL STARTS WITH A PERIOD.

That later lead to me thinking about the people with periods who were to able to afford supplies or access them when they needed. So in 2018, I founded PERIOD Miami (now Menstrual Market) to address period poverty and stigma in my city of Miami, FL. I added a collection drive to my first ever Werk it Moms brunch event. Right after the event ended, I packed up those donations and held my first "Period Packing Party" that afternoon in a container room at the back of a little spot called The Wynwood Yard which is now gone (if you know, you know).

And the rest is history :-)

Nicky's Credentials and Education

CERTIFICATIONS

Certified Vaginal Steaming Practitioner with Steamy Chick - 2016

Certified Full Circle Doula - Mama Glow - 2018

Certified Prenatal and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist - 2020

Cannabis Doula Practitioner – Cannabis Doula - (in process)

Certified Women’s Hormonal Health Coach - Menstrual Health Institute 2021

EXPERIENCE

1-year on-hands doula apprenticeship with Blessings, Birth and Beyond founder Amber Campbell - 2018

1-year Fix Your Period apprenticeship training with Nicole Jardim - 2021

Over 7 years of pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience

Opened Werk it Moms, LLC in 2018, opened the Miami store in 2022

Founded PERIOD Miami in 2018, opened the PERIOD Miami office in 2023!

Advising Doula and influencer for Proudly since 2022

SUPPLEMENTAL TRAININGS

Herbalist Master Certification - 2017

Pregnancy and Infant Loss with Nneka Hall - 2018

Breastfeeding Counselor - 2018

In short, I am obsessed with what I do and here to help you have a better menstrual and birth experience!

Angela Moore

“I am so thankful for Nicky. After I had my baby, I only had a month off before having to return to work because I’m self employed and I just wasn’t comfortable taking her to a daycare that early or having some random person from a website come to my home. I met Nicky through another new mom and she highly recommended her. As soon as Nicky came to meet the baby, I could tell she was super experienced and had a special touch. I felt so comfortable and I relied on Nicky for the next 6 months or so even after Covid struck. It was an amazing experience and she always went above and beyond with extras. Also, I’d like to note that she’s a very inspirational person. She’s always reading books expanding her knowledge and expertise, volunteering in the community for women’s issues and she’s super focused on the environment and living holistically."