Dr. Jackie on Married to Medicine, Sexual Health, Infertility and More

Dr. Jacqueline Walters, more commonly known as Dr. Jackie, is a board-certified OBGYN and cast member of Bravo’s Married to Medicine. The small town Mississippi girl turned Atlanta doctor has a client roster more star studded than Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Grammy-winners, like Toni Braxton, T.I. and Usher, and their families all go to Dr. Jackie with their health matters. BlackEnterprise.com was able to track down the busy boss in between family, medicine and reality TV to talk about how the show has affected her practice, the time Toni Braxton threw a slight diva fit, how to support your man through infertility and so much more! Read on for all the details.

Tell us about what made you want to practice medicine, more specifically as an OBGYN.

I came from a small town in Mississippi and nobody at home would ever really talk and tell you stuff. They made everything seem so fearful, and I truly said, “When I grow up, I am going to be a doctor so that I can educate women so that being a woman isn’t a fear.” Your period was a curse, and having sex was bad. It was just always so fearful.

You have a really loyal celebrity client base. To other doctors who want to build a high-profile patient list, how should they market their practice?

When I walk through the door I truly stop thinking about me; I make everything about the patient. I’m really a good girlfriend, with boundaries. When she’s telling me about her affair, I’m like, “You know you’re going to rot in hell.” [Laughs.] And so we talk through all the advantages and disadvantages of the situation she’s in and I really try to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

With the celebrities, they need to know you’re protecting their best interest. I don’t name drop, I try not to call them, so it really is a doctor-patient relationship. I can share this because we’re friends now. I remember my first patient being Toni Braxton, and Toni was having a fit: “I could go to New York or L.A.” And I said, “Well, let me make some calls and see if we can find you somebody out there.” I was not going to compromise my integrity.

Toni still remained your patient so how did the two of you resolve that issue?

When she said “I’m going to move and go back to L.A. or New York,” I said, “I understand. I’m not going to be able to give you this, but let me talk you through why you can’t have that. If it doesn’t make sense to you, I respect that and let’s find you a doctor in L.A.” I give the risks, the benefits and the indications, and if you are willing to accept the risks that I’m not willing to accept, I’m still the wrong doctor.

Do you think starring on Married to Medicine helped or hurt your practice?

It has helped. My very first scene I called to say, “Yea, guys. This really isn’t for me.

I really can’t be anybody but who I am.” I’m not going to act out. I don’t curse, I don’t drink, I don’t belittle women in the norm and I’m not going to do it on TV. And they said, “No, stay around for a few more seasons.” After a while I said, “You know, these ladies need a mentor.” I’m not going be anybody but the person I really am, and I just stayed true to that. Crazy enough, I attract that population.

Keep reading on to see what Dr. Jackie says about supporting your man through infertility.

You were diagnosed with cancer, you beat it and then you were diagnosed again. What was it like hearing that news for the second time, and what lifestyle changes did you make to put your health first?

I got this book that I’ve been writing and it talks about being a patient and being a doctor. And I say I knew enough to not be terrified, but I knew too much. I battled the good and evil of knowing. I knew too much that they didn’t have an answer for, so that made me a little nervous. It was one of those things that I used my faith to get through, saying, “You know what? This is not death. It’s an early diagnosis. We can treat it.”

The second time around, I was really shaken because… in the same scope of that time period I had been declared infertile from the chemo. I had a whole bunch of OBGYN stuff going on: breast cancer, infertility. I stayed positive, I changed the way I was eating, I started making fitness my passion. I said I have to do my part, and the rest, God, is up to you.

How long has it been since you beat your diagnosis?

The first time I’m ten years out and the second time I’m six years out!

What steps should women take to keep their reproductive health in check?

Do your preventive health, drink water, exercise. Take care of yourself. Women who smoke, they don’t realize they ding their ovaries. You definitely need your folic acid so that in your reproductive age you have less chance for neural tube defects. Multivitamins make a difference, because American women eat poorly and we need those supplements or amino acids so that we’re maintaining healthy eggs. And know your family history.

As driven career women, we often see women who are so invested in their professional lives. Then, one day they’re 40 and feel the need to rush and have babies. For women who want children, when should they start shifting more focus to starting a family?

At age 35 you’re in the crossroads. Now, what’s happening at 35? Those eggs have been there since you were in your mom’s womb, and they’ve been through all life cycles with you. The sun exposure; the poor eating; the smoking, so we’re damaging those eggs. At 35 your pituitary rate starts to decline, and your risk of abnormal fetuses, birth defects and genetic abnormalities start to go up right at that point. You go from one in thousands of a baby with Down’s syndrome to one in 400. Your risk is starting to climb and your chance of getting pregnant is starting to drop.

On an episode of RHOA, Kandi and Todd came in to see you after they’d been trying to have a baby. In an instance where it is a matter of infertility, how do you recommend that a couple cope with that?

I think first and foremost we have to recognize that 40% of the infertility is the man. When you can get to the cause it will ease a lot of anguish between the husband and wife. Crazy enough, when it is the man who is infertile, it is so much harder for them to digest than it is for the woman. Now, we do have to stroke men up a little bit more than they would stroke us back because of ego, but you just have to be really gentle with men. They think it’s linked directly to sexuality. If you’re having infertility issues then you’re not having good sex. Well, that’s not true at all. They have to know that we’re in this together, whether it’s me or you, and we’re in it to win it.

Some of it is strictly psychological. They’re so stressed about getting pregnant… We see once they release and let it go, they adopt, then they get pregnant.

Learn about Dr. Walter’s 50 Shades of Pink foundation here.