I found this awesome video at Birth and Bloom.
I heart the Birth Attendants, who run this Prison Doula Project. I also love this video because it shares the stories of these doulas and the women they work with–but it protects their anonymity using this cool form of animation. That’s a big piece of telling the stories of these incarcerated folks–you also want to respect their desire for privacy.
For more about The Birth Attendants, check out their website.
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Incarceration, activism, birth, kick-ass radical doulas | 
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Posted by radicaldoula
Most of this information has been taken from reader emails or comments, or from the websites of these programs. This is just a resource list, I can’t guarantee what the experiences with these programs might be like!
If you know of other volunteer doula programs, please email me (radicaldoula[At]gmail[DOT]com) with details.
United States:
California:
UC San Diego Medical Center: “Hearts & Hands volunteers begin by attending a one-day introductory training. Upon completion, you will work with experienced mentor doulas until you are ready to work on your own. No prior experience is required, but volunteer doulas must have the emotional and physical stamina to attend long labors.”
San Francisco General Hospital Volunteer Doula Program: “San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) is a nationally renowned public teaching hospital associated with the UCSF School of Medicine. Birthing women receive care collaboratively from doulas, nurses, midwives, and physicians in our Certified Baby-Friendly Birthing Center. The Doula Program Coordinator, Monnie Reba Efross RN, MSN, has worked as a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital since 1979. Monthly Doula Volunteer meetings feature guest speakers and provide an opportunity to share and process experiences of birth assistance at SFGH. Our goal is to become a fully funded program. Doulas and those who want to support us are invited to participate in program projects including fundraising projects.”
Homeless Prenatal Program in San Francisco California: No info about doula program on website, for more information contact Contact Nancy Frappier, 415 546 6756, ext. 316.
CCRMC Hearts and Hands Volunteer Doula Program in Martinez, California: Hearts and Hands is a volunteer doula program out of Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez, California. Previous doula training is not necessary. Please contact Roz at roz71556[AT]hotmail[DOT]com for more information.
Pasadena/Altadena, CA: “The Pasadena Public Health Department Black Infant Health Program Caring Companions Childbirth Assistant Referral Service offers free doula support services to women who receive prenatal care at Pasadena Public Health Department prenatal clinic, and to all women in Los Angeles County who have Medi-Cal or who are low-income.
Doulas seeking births needed for certification who would like to make a difference in the lives of African-American and Hispanic women and babies are invited to volunteer to do labor support. Most clients deliver at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. African-American Doulas and Spanish speaking doulas are encouraged to apply; but doulas of all backgrounds are welcome.
To obtain an application and for further information, contact The Black Infant Health Program at 626-744-6093 or e-mail: channa@cityofpasadena.net”
Georgia:
The Doula Project Atlanta: “The Doula Project Atlanta is a pro-choice, Atlanta –based organization currently under construction. It was founded by a prochoice reproductive justice advocate, who currently serves as Project Coordinator. The project is a volunteer led and run organization that trains and manages its own abortion doula base. We intend to provide multiple services to the community, included, but not limited to: Doula care to people facing abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth; Doula care to people choosing adoption; Doula care on a case-by-case basis to lower-income individuals; Outreach initiatives to the community, schools, and the surrounding areas.” Email thedoulaproject[AT]gmail[DOT]com for more information.
Illinois:
Chicago Volunteer Doulas: “We are about 40 doulas strong and currently work with low-income moms at two of the city’s hospitals and are in the process of connecting with midwives or other staff at two more. Many of the doulas in the group are more newly trained and looking for certification births, and many of us also have been doing the work for a while and are committed to volunteering for the long run. We provide both on-call services for women who may not have considered a doula before birth, as well as more traditional match-ups with mamas where we establish a longer term relationship including prenatals and postpartum follow up.” More information on their website.
Massachusetts:
Bay State Green River Doula Project (Springfield, MA): “In cooperation with the midwives at Baystate Midwifery and Women’s Health, Nancy Madru and other members of the Green River Doula Network are taking part in a volunteer doula effort at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Baystate Midwifery serves a primarily low-income clientele from many cultures and walks of life, and our goal is to provide doula support to as many of these women as possible.”
The Prison Birth Project (Western MA): “The Prison Birth Project is an organization focused on reproductive justice, working to provide support, education and advocacy to women and girls at the intersection of the criminal justice system and motherhood.”
Michigan:
Doulas Care in Ann Arbor, Michigan: “Doulas Care is a 501c3 non-profit organization working to improve maternal and infant health outcomes and reduce health disparities by matching qualified volunteer doulas with pregnant women and adolescents who have limited resources. Qualifying low-income women receive these services for free. We also offer affordable birth services for $350 and postpartum services on a sliding scale for families outside the range of our free services. As special mentors, doulas provide educational, emotional, physical, and logistical support to women and their families. Doulas Care also helps the volunteers by providing the opportunity to gain hands-on experience soon after training and opens a professional pathway in the field of maternal and infant health.”
New York:
The Doula Project: An NYC-based organization that provides compassionate care and emotional, physical, and informational support to women and people across the spectrum of pregnancy. The Doula Project works to create a society in which all pregnant women and people have access to the care and support they need during their pregnancies and the ability to make healthy decisions for themselves, whether they face birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal anomaly, or abortion.
The Institute for Family Health: “A non-profit organization of community health centers around New York City and upstate New York. Our patient population is extremely diverse in age range, ethnicity, demographics, and socio-economic status. However, many of our patients are on Medicaid or public assistance. Our prenatal care is located at Philips Family Practice on east 16th street. The prenatal patients are seen by a team of two family practice residents and one family practice attending who see them through their prenatal care and attend their delivery at Beth Israel. Patients have the option of being seen individually or participating in our Centering Pregnancy Group Prenatal care.
The volunteer doula program is essentially a matching program, where patients pick a volunteer doula from the list or from one of our meet the doula nights, and are matched together. Most of the doulas have little to no experience, but all have been through the doula training course. Once the patient is matched, it is up to her and her doula to come to a mutual agreement regarding when and where they will meet, who the backup doula will be, how long the doula will stay, how many meetings they will have, and if any fee is expected.” For more information contact Miriam Wood at mwood[AT]institute2000[DOT]org.
North Carolina:
UNC BirthPartners (Chapel Hill, NC): A hospital based volunteer doula program in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Note: I volunteered with this program in 2005 and had a good experience.
YWCA Greensboro Doula Program: The YWCA’s Doula Program is for adult females interested in becoming a certified labor coach. As a part of the certification process, doula trainees provide emotional support and comfort during childbirth, help with breastfeeding plus assistance with child-mother bonding to teen moms in TPMP. Call the TPMP office at 273-3461 ext. 117 for additional information.
Oregon:
PDX Doulas in Portland Oregon: Note from member: The website is out-of-date: we are no longer a funded organization. We work as volunteers at Oregon Health Sciences University’s hospital, doing 1 24-hour shift or 2 12-hour shifts a month, right now on weekends only (although we’re hoping to expand). The nurses decide when to call us based on some vague criteria — do they want a natural birth? Are they unaccompanied? — and we go!
Pennsylvania:
Philadelphia Alliance for Labor Support (PALS): “A group of labor and delivery doulas committed to improving birth experiences and outcomes in the Philadelphia area, as well as promoting the development of new and experienced doulas. We provide trained labor and birth support people (doulas), free of charge, to people who would otherwise be unable to access doula care. We provide subsidized DONA International certified training, twice a year, to those interested in becoming doulas.Our monthly meetings serve as a support network, resource, and forum and are open to anyone interested in empowering and supporting people through the most positive birth experience possible.” Note: I trained with this group in 2005 and had a great experience.
Washington:
Birth Attendants: A doula program based in Olympia Washington that provides support to incarcerated pregnant and postpartum women.
University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle: Founded in 2005, UWMC Doula Care seeks to increase the availability of free labor support for women, as well as to create partnerships between doulas, doctors, nurses and hospital staff. (Note: Couldn’t find info on the web, but I did find this document from the Seattle Midwifery School about the program) For more info:
uwdoulas@gmail.com
Open Arms Perinatal Services (Seattle Washington): “Open Arms has provided birth doula services to women and their families in the Puget Sound area since 1997. We offer services to pregnant women who would otherwise find themselves alone or with little support.” They also fundraise to pay their doulas. More information on their website here and on my post about them here.
Washington DC:
Family Health and Birth Center in Washington DC: This birth center located in Northeast DC has a volunteer doula program associated with it. The doulas work with the midwives at the freestanding birth center and also at a nearby hospital. More information on their website here, or you can email Katie Daily at Doulas[AT]yourfhbc[DOT]org. Also check out Katie’s guest post about the program.
Wisconsin:
Small Miracles in Madison, Wisconsin: Contact number on website can be used to get in touch with the director–leave name, number, email and indicate that you are interested in becoming a doula. Note: the area code is 608. This program only provides doulas for women who live in the Madison area. Volunteering through this organization does require previous doula training and/or experience. Will provide mentors to new doulas who have been through training.
Bami-Ondaadiziike Birth Doula Project in Northern Wisconsin: “The Bami-Ondaadiziike Birth Doula Project was born in 2006 through a grant with the Red Cliff Community Health Center’s Honoring Our Children Program under the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. We are a group of professionally trained and dedicated volunteer doulas who provide physical, emotional, and mental support for pregnant women and their families in the Chequamegon Bay area. If you would like to be connected with a doula or would like more information please call our referral line to leave a message and our referral coordinator will get back to you as soon as possible. 715-331-9337″
National:
Operation Special Delivery: “Provides trained volunteer doulas for pregnant women whose husbands or partners have been severely injured or who have lost their lives due to the current war on terror, or who will be deployed at the time that they are due to give birth.”
Canada:
Volunteer Doula Program, Single Parents Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia: They offer Prenatal Education and Support, the Volunteer Doula Program (free Doula training & by donation Doula services), Support to New Moms and Infants, Programs for Parents, Wellness (including Fitness, Infant Massage, Parent Massage), etc. They also help families connect with other resources in the city.
Vancouver Youth Pregnancy & Parenting Program: The Youth Pregnancy & Parenting Program (YPPP) provides young mothers (up to age 22) complete prenatal and postnatal care. Volunteer Doulas, are a component of the overall program. They attend group sessions with the YPPP participants. Doulas must be “on Call” 24/7 until the birth of the participant’s child. Ensure attendance throughout labour, delivery and the immediate postpartum.
Montreal Birth Companions: “The purpose of the Montreal Birth Companions is twofold: to provide low-income or otherwise disadvantaged women with free doula services and to train “peer doulas” within the ethnically or culturally isolated areas of our city to provide doula support for the women in their communities.”
International:
Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Bali, Indonesia): “A by-donation clinic located right outside of Ubud, Bali, Indonesia that provides holistic midwifery services to those in need. Suharto’s (dictator in Indonesia from 60s-90s) brutal family planning laws under the New Order helped to create a birthing culture in Indonesia that leaves much to be desired (c-section rates are ~80%, almost all contraceptives prescribed are controlled by doctors, such as IUDs, universal AIDS precautions are not followed, etc.) Additionally, hospital costs are out of reach for many women, so they cannot even access that care. All of this contributes to why hemorrhaging after childbirth is the leading cause of death for women in Bali.
YBS was started by a Filipino-American midwife, Robin Lim, over fifteen years ago. They have volunteers and interns from all over the world, and are truly a worthy organization. I think that they want volunteers to speak basic Indonesian, but its a pretty simple language to learn (it took me about two months to get to a conversational level, and about a year to feel completely comfortable). I can’t say enough good things about Robin and YBS.”
This page is a work in progress–please email me (radicaldoula[At]gmail[DOT]com) if you know of other volunteer programs or training organizations!
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Posted by radicaldoula
As part of my new and expanded site, the page about becoming a doula (still in progress!) has a list of volunteer doula programs at the bottom. Here is my list so far is after the jump.
Do you know of other programs I should feature here at radical doula? If so leave them in comments or send them to me via email. International programs welcome.
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Posted by radicaldoula
Yesterday, a victory from the folks at the National Advocates for Pregnant Women.
This case is pretty horrific. You can see more about Nelson’s story in the RH Reality Check video above. More info:
On Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit (the federal level appellate court that reviews decisions from federal district courts in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, and Arkansas) issued the long-awaited decision in Nelson v. Norris. In this case, Shawanna Nelson argued that being forced to go through the final stages of labor with both legs shackled to her hospital bed was cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. She argued that she should be allowed to sue the director of the prison and the guard who repeatedly re-shackled her legs to the bed. Ms. Nelson, an African-American woman, was incarcerated for non-violent offenses of credit card fraud and “hot checks.”
The idea of shackling any person during labor is abominable, but in this case the one argument for the practice is bunk. The only argument I can think of (which I definitely don’t agree with) is that an incarcerated person could be “dangerous” and therefore need to be restrained, even while giving birth. It’s ludicrous for even the most “violent” of criminals, let alone a woman like Nelson, who was incarcerated for CREDIT CARD FRAUD. Absurd.
Leave a Comment » | Shackling, activism, birth, reproductive justice | Permalink
Posted by radicaldoula
Thanks to Indra Lusero for posting this on facebook, from RaceWire:
In Pascagoula, Mississippi, in November 2008, Cirila Baltazar Cruz gave birth to a baby girl. Soon after, her daughter was taken away from her because she could not communicate with the hospital attendants.
Far away from her native Oaxaca, Mexico, she did not understand the Puerto Rican interpreter assigned to her. Cirila speaks Chatino, an indigenous Mexican language spoken by about 50,000 people. A social worker called in by hospital authorities deemed the new mother negligent and unfit to raise the baby, stating as reasons that she was an “illegal immigrant” and that she did not speak English.
…
Baltazar Cruz is up for deportation, while her daughter is reported to be with an affluent Ocean Springs couple.
The way immigrant women are abused in this country is incredible and so saddening. Not being able to communicate with the hospital staff is the HOSPITAL’s issue, not the mother’s.
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Posted by radicaldoula
From the Seattle Times:
The doulas, members of an Olympia-based doula group called The Birth Attendants, work with the entire prison population as well as the prison’s Residential Parenting Program, which helps pregnant inmates and new mothers maneuver their way through childbirth and beyond.
“We’re not there to pass judgment,” but to educate, said doula Zimryah Barnes, who is part of the prison-doula project. “We don’t deny anybody support who requests it.”
Barnes and other members of The Birth Attendants have become a familiar resource around the prison since they brought the concept to prison officials in 2002. Barnes said the program is based on a similar one in prisons in the United Kingdom.
The doulas offer one-on-one counseling sessions and courses on sex education and family planning. Some doulas even are present when inmates travel to a Tacoma hospital to deliver their babies. Many of those inmates are allowed to raise their children inside the prison as long as they follow strict behavior guidelines.
Read the rest of the piece here. Yay Birth Attendants! Luckily I have heard rumblings of a few other projects like this one cropping up, which is really important. I also learned recently that while the United States only accounts for 5% of the world’s population, we are responsible for 25% of the world’s prison population. Scary.
Thanks to Feministing reader Amanda for the link
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Posted by radicaldoula
The first group that I highlighted back when I started the blog, the The Birth Attendents: Prison Doula Project, is turning five this year. If you’re in Olympia, Washington definitely go to the party and meet the awesome women. But if not, you can buy a ticket as an out of town supporter. I highly recommend it! They are an awesome group of doulas.
You can find more information about the event on their website. Happy Birthday Prison Doula Project! Keep up the amazing work.
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So I am starting a series called ”Kick ass radical doulas.” Periodically I will highlight awesome doula programs or doulas that I learn about or meet, particularly ones that focus on providing doula services to communities of women who REALLY need the support. Like my first group, who works with incarcerated women.
So I’m inaugurating this series with a shout-out to the Birth Attendents, an amazing group of super-radical doulas who provide support to incarcerated women giving birth in Western Washington State. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of these awesome doulas, and I think they typify what it means to be a radical doula. The work they do with incarcerated women (who regularly are shackled during labor and delivery) is truly inspiring. I have the particular pleasure to befriend Christy Hall, who is an awesome radical doula, and was actually the person I had some of my original conversations with about radical doulas. Meet these awesome women here.
Not only do they run this Prison Doula Project, they also have a community education project:
Our community education project links our vital work inside prisons to the greater issues surrounding incarceration and works toward creating pathways of knowledge for western Washington communities about incarceration and its effects.
Rock on. Want to support these awesome doulas and their work? Then give them some money. Or volunteer.
If you have know any doulas or doula programs that you think I should highlight for this series, email me at radicaldoula@gmail.com.
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Posted by radicaldoula
You have searched the Radical Doula blog archives for ‘the birth attendants’. If you are unable to find anything in these search results, you can try one of these links.
Miriam at Feministing
