why are you a doula?

I hear this question all the time. Why are you a doula? Aren’t you a bit young to be a doula? What made you want to do that?

To me. It’s simple.

I love women, birthing people and children.

I have always been drawn to caring for kids. I have always loved kids. It doesn’t matter whose kid it is. I worked at a daycare for awhile a few years back and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I met so many children and I was touched by so many lives. I loved doing that work, but for me it was draining everyday caring for multiple 1 & 2 year-old kids.

I came across an article that spoke of black infant and maternal health. Black infants are 3-4x more likely not to make it to the age of 1 than a non-Hispanic white infant. Black birthing people are 2x more likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes than a non-Hispanic white birthing person. I came across another article, “This Is How the American Healthcare System Is Failing Black Women.” Then another one, “Childbirth is Killing Black Women".” The articles continued, telling me how dangerous America is for black birthing people.

I had to do something for my people. For myself. It made me afraid to be in my own skin. How do you avoid these issues when you can’t hide your face. Racism has and still is a barrier from basic necessities for BIPOC. I continued to learn more about black infant and maternal health. I learned more about the effects of hospital interventions and c section rates. I dug into what we can do to allow babies and birthing parents to have better outcomes. I learned about delayed cord clamping, breastfeeding in the first hour after birth, skin to skin, and so on. I wanted to teach this to my community and support birthing parents.

I came across another article. It was about doulas. This article explained that doulas teach parents about their options and support them through the transition into parenthood. It was the perfect job for me. After I found this article I started my journey as a birth worker. Later quitting my full-time job to pursue this work full-time.

I am a doula because I am a wombman who has power and passion. I am a doula because there is nothing in this world that calls me like this work does. The exchange of energy in a birthing space is a divine one. Its seeing the power of life, and it rocks your world. Every. Single. Time. Supporting birthing people in this powerful transition and meeting the families on the other side is something close of a miracle.

— ordinary brown girl