May is International Doula Month, and I am all about building bridges right now in multiple different directions!
Doulas are ALL OVER the news lately for lots of reasons, but definite thanks goes to Amy Schumer & Meghan Markle for bringing doulas to the forefront! Go Doulas go! I am sooo happy to see this profession grow!!!
That picture above is one I snapped while driving to a client’s house and I really just loved the view because I had never been there and I could not see the other side of the bridge as I approached. I am a bridge builder by nature. I want to connect people with each other and with the information and resources they might need. That is most definitely part of my job as a doula!
As I mentioned here before, I like to pick a word for the year to help guide me, and this year’s word is: CONNECTION! Locally, I am trying not only to create greater connection among businesses that also help serve growing families, but also between new doulas and potential clients. I worked with other local doulas to hold a Meet the Doulas night, and we are already working on the next one!
I am cultivating connections between professionals who focus on pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum. I have been trying to expand my network of not just providers of medical services, but also with other businesses that I have featured here on this website. I have a few more connections coming up on the blog, so keep your eyes peeled for those! I keep reaching out to new businesses that might be interested in collaborating on different projects, so if you are interested, please feel free to reach out to me!
I am working to try to figure out how to bring a barrier-free doula training here to Evansville! I have held two DONA approved birth doula trainings here, but I know there are more people who would like to be doulas but may have just had trouble figuring out how to make it happen for whatever reason. This would mean that people who wanted to become a birth doula, but have barriers in their way (finances, childcare, etc), could have access to this training. This is probably the biggest project I am working on at the moment, fueled especially by the messages and advocacy work of the March for Moms and 4Kira4Moms. I’m not afraid of big projects, and I really believe that the more doulas we have locally, the more people will want to use doulas. Hooray for the abundance mindset!
Another local project that I would really like to help move forward is to facilitate greater continuity of care between people who are seeking home births and their parallel care providers who hopefully can be waiting to help just in case and in the open. The lack of continuity of care currently is a true disservice to people who choose to birth at home, and I know that the lack of transparency is not good for ANYONE!
I’m also trying to help the newly formed Southwest Indiana Breastfeeding Coalition develop and grow, and we have a really cool new project that we are excited about where we are collecting survey data to hopefully recognize businesses that really support breastfeeding parents with their policies! If that sounds like your employer, you can answer the survey here.
On a much grander scale, I am in the middle of developing a bigger project for childbirth professionals, and you should check it out if you are interested! It’s called The Birth Geeks! There’s a podcast and more coming!
Bridges connect people. Bridges bring two places together. Bridges are helpful. Bridges are carefully engineered and crafted. Bridges are not easy, but are VERY needed, and for the record I’m not allowing any trolls under mine!