Radical Doula

This week I’m happy to have a profile of Mary Mahoney, one of the fantastic doulas who established the NYC Abortion Doula Project. Read more about that project here.

RD: Why did you become a doula?
MM: I became a doula because I’m dedicated to creating positive reproductive health experiences for all women, whether they choose to carry their pregnancies to term or not. I believe that by providing non-judgmental emotional support, resources, and education women can be empowered to have not only a positive birth or abortion experience, but also become advocates for their own reproductive health for the rest of their lives.

I also became a doula because I wanted to understand more fully the complexities and barriers pregnant women who choose to keep their pregnancies face. As Assistant Director of the Pro-Choice Public Education Project, my focus has often been more on unintended pregnancy, sex education and abortion. Since it is often the same women who have children and get abortions, it was important for me to understand the full span of reproductive health experiences women have, so that I could become a better advocate.

RD: How does that work fit into your broader political beliefs?

MM: As a doula and social justice activist, I see public education and individual awareness as the cornerstones of making the best reproductive health choices you can for yourself and on your terms. Doulas reinforce in women that they have the ability to do this and we can help them get there. However, often information and awareness are not enough. Many women do not have the resources to make their birth plan or positive abortion experience a reality. Some doulas offer low cost or free services to women who are not able to afford doula care on their own. Recently in NYC, Lauren Mitchell and I started a program, the Abortion Doula Project, that supports women who are having abortions, free of charge. We use the doula model of care to offer non-judgmental, compassionate emotional support before, during and after the abortion. In the next year, we hope to expand our service to lower-income women who choose to carry their pregnancy to term.

RD: What is one thing I would change about birth in the US?
MM: There are a lot of things to tackle here. I think the number one thing I would want for a woman in any challenging reproductive health experience is that she feels like she has a support system, that she is not alone, and that she has someone looking out for her best interests. One thing we come across in the Abortion Doula Project is the question of, what if a medical professional does something we do not approve of or do not think is in the best interest of the woman? We understand that we are limited in what we can actually say to this medical professional to get them to change their behaviors, but the one thing we can do is guide the woman to a better place through the doula model of care. I spoke with a doula recently who said to me “all you can control all the time is the level of care you give the woman.” And it’s really true. And it’s also important that we as doulas remember that women come to us with their own coping resources, that they know how to take care of themselves. We are there to remind them to do it and support them as they do.

In the second edition of the Radical Doula Profiles, we have the awesome Sasa Ynoa from the Dar a Luz Project. It’s really a beautiful website, so be sure to check it out! She’s also working on a film project, so stay tuned for more information about that.

Radical Doula: How does your Doula work and birth activism fit into your broader political beliefs? My birth activism revolves around the vision that birthing should be as healthy and beautiful as possible even if there are complications or moms have health conditions. I feel like this vision extends farther than the actual room and experience but to the policies, insurance companies, and institutions that implement very inconvenient protocols/policies that make birthing in hospitals undesirable.

There really is a birthing crisis – with serious cuts in access to prenatal care facilities and hospitals closing their L&D units yearly. It’s not profitable to hospitals. This also affects birth centers as they rely on nearby hospitals to transfer laboring mothers with complications. It is quite involved and I ultimately think it starts with education. Lack of facilities affect a child’s future and a mom’s health. There are simple things that screening and nutritional advice can prevent. Although I strongly advocate midwives, the reality is that there are some women who may not be a candidate for a birth center/homebirth or midwife care. Their pregnancy maybe complicated by a health condition. How are they going get to their Ob/Gyn? This can become especially difficult when the visits become more frequent in the third trimester aside from their work and/or family responsibilities. These are concrete obstacles that pose serious health risks. Just like we talk about environmental sustainability, foreign policy, and the economy we must elevate Childbirth and Prenatal Care to the forefront of political discussions where it becomes an umbrella in and of itself. Prenatal care is disparate among communities of people. We know that this is the case when it comes to education, food, and public services, and disparities in prenatal care fall along the same socio-economic lines. This is reflected in an infant mortality rate that is twice as high among Black women than for White woman in the United States. This in essence is a violent crime on our children, moms, and communities. Change can not occur until our voices are heard.

RD: What is your favorite thing about being a Doula? Knowing that I was present to a momentous experience in a woman and child’s life. I love seeing the excitement from family to see a new life on earth. I used to swell up with tears. As a labor and delivery nurse, I still get very excited.

RD: If you could change one thing about the way women birth in the US, what would it be? Many of the moms I see are young and their pregnancies are often times unplanned. I observe that some of these moms often approach their pregnancy in a very hands off manner. Many expect to relinquish complete control to the hands of health care practitioners. I would like to see more mothers and moms-to-be involved in attaining a healthy pregnancy and learning coping strategies throughout labor. I know that there are programs for young moms but I would like to see more as a standard of care. Childbirth education should be free and accessible community wide. I feel when women, especially those marginalized, become more educated and gain confidence in their power to birth, the result will be a beneficial shift in our birthing culture and in our communities.

Don’t forget to check out her website: www.daraluzproject.com

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