Influencer Mama Doctor Jones accepts job in Invercargill

Dr Danielle Jones is moving to Invercargill. Photo / Supplied

Marching down a hospital corridor in her scrubs, camera on selfie mode with Megan Thee Stallion's Sex Talk song playing, the doctor poses the question to her followers.

"Condom broke … now what?"

Take Plan B (aka, the morning-after pill) within three days, she says, which can be up to 95 per cent effective, but if you don't get a period in two weeks, call your doctor.

The simple video has so far racked up 13 million views on TikTok - where users are predominantly teenagers and young adults - and is the work of outspoken American medical influencer Dr Danielle Jones, aka Mama Doctor Jones.

By day, she's delivering babies and treating pregnant women as a locum obstetrician gynaecologist at various US hospitals, but in her spare time, Jones is in front of the camera talking sex and reproductive issues.

Across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter she has more than 2 million followers and she's part of a growing list of medical professionals whose side hustle brings their health knowledge to the masses. New Zealand already has a few, including midwives Katie Hawkey and Carmen Lett and anaesthetist Dr Morgan Edwards.

Jones, 35, uses her platforms to answer uncomfortable questions ("is vaginal discharge normal"), clear up medical misinformation ("Covid-19 vaccination does not cause infertility"), and do demonstrations ("how to place a tampon painlessly" - using a plastic bottle).

"Our twins left public school for spring break in March of 2020 and never got to go back, no goodbyes to their friends or anything."

Instead, Jones started working as a locum in labour and delivery units around Texas.

"Obviously my daily work life has changed drastically. We mask 24/7 at the hospital and our family masks anytime we are in crowds outside or enter a public space. Even my 2-year-old, who was 17 months old when the pandemic started, is a pro at masking now."

Late last year, Jones started getting congested and having headaches but initially put her symptoms down to allergies. Later, while cleaning the bathroom, she was struggling to breathe. Her husband thought she was having an asthma attack, triggered by the strong-smelling cleaning product she had been using.

But Jones told him she couldn't smell it, and then realised it was probably because she had lost her sense of smell, a symptom of Covid-19. Her result was confirmed with a test and her husband then started feeling ill.

Exhaustion followed and Jones described the disease as "way worse than the flu".

"As we were living in a town where we didn't know anyone, we had no one to take the kids and they ended up exposed and infected as well. Luckily, the kiddos were not very sick at all and seem to have done fine. I'm very thankful we all recovered, but it was absolutely terrifying and hard for those weeks, and for me, the months of trouble breathing after."

The family eventually made it to Hawaii in May this year once the island's borders opened. Jones estimates they have lived in about 15 AirBnbs.

The family's lifestyle wouldn't be possible without Jones' "incredibly supportive" husband, a software developer by trade.

"He is a very involved dad and we both love being nomadic and having a big family. He is incredibly intelligent and very good at what he does, though for the past year he has sacrificed for our family to live this lifestyle by homeschooling our four kiddos while we travel."

'Lots and lots of red tape'

Trying to get an obstetrician-gynaecologist in New Zealand is hard enough. But throw in a global pandemic and it's even more challenging.

The occupation is on Immigration New Zealand's skills shortage list. Southern District Health Board chief medical officer, Dr Nigel Millar tells the Herald that when recruiting, local applicants are always considered first but there were only four applicants in total, all from overseas.

Jones is now in the process of getting the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to approve her medical licence and consultant qualifications.

"The next step will be applying as a family for a work visa under my name," Jones says.

"After we have a visa application, we can apply for MIQ or emergency MIQ and then once approved we can book flights and plan the move, then spend two weeks in a hotel room with four small kiddos. It's a very complex and trying process right now."

She was due to start work in August but the date has been pushed back to September.

"We've run into some red tape with pandemic regulations and everything moving slow so I'm not sure if it'll be October or November now. Hopefully this year."

So what does Jones' boss think about his new employee bringing such a big following to small-town New Zealand? Millar says it is usual for senior doctors to speak publicly about things that relate to their professional experience.

"Society is changing and the traditional medium of newspapers and broadcast media is being added to and in some instances overtaken by social media. It is quite logical and reasonable the health professionals would use this to inform, educate and support the community on important health-related issues. Dr Jones is obviously very experienced and skilled at this.

"We have discussed the use of social media with Dr Jones, noting that it is an element of her practice. No specific limits have been set. Dr Jones is a professional and has an in-depth understanding of how to use social media for health promotion. We are looking forward to learning from her experience."

Southern DHB employees are expected to follow a set of social media guidelines set by the Ministry of Health, he says. They include lines such as, "If you have a gripe at work, try to deal with it in the usual internal way with your manager rather than broadcasting your concerns." And, "Remember search engines never forget; everything you post stays online for a long time. Think before posting something you might regret later".

In her new role, Jones will be undertaking gynaecological surgery, colposcopy, outpatient clinics and obstetrics.

"She has shown interest in joining Southern for several years now, and this position came at the right time for the both of us," Millar says. "She is an enthusiastic and patient-centred individual who we believed would be a great member of our team."

The Joneses are hoping three of their children will be able to be vaccinated before they come to the country - Pfizer and Moderna have expanded studies to include children aged between 5 and 11.

"We are so incredibly thankful for vaccinations, even though it's been a tough road to convince many of my patients, friends, family to get them. We are very excited for the potential to get our kiddos vaccinated soon."

When the family get here, Jones hopes to enrol three of her children in a local school and her husband plans to work while here.

"As a web developer he has lots of skills that are very beneficial to my social media presence, so the plan is to delve into some ObGyn, period, pregnancy web and app development for the MDJ brand."

Despite living and working in some big cities and hospitals — particularly in Austin — Jones is used to small towns. She was born in Borger, a tiny town in Texas (population 13,251 compared with Invercargill's 57,000).

They haven't yet found accommodation but will likely find a hotel or rental for a month or two before finding a long-term living situation.

The Southland town's weather will be a big adjustment with Texas temperatures currently reaching 40C.

"But the kids are really looking forward to going back to school, especially Milo, who should start kindergarten [the first year of primary school] soon and I'm looking forward to them being able to have a bit more normalcy."