Bridging the Gap: Bringing Equity to Our Communities and Ourselves Through Doula Work
Meg McAteer Escobar, Postpartum Doula
Do not hurry; align Destroy the idea that you have to constantly work or grind to be successful. Embrace the concept that rest, recovery, and reflection are essential parts of progressing toward a successful and ultimately happy life.
-Unknown source
According to the WHO, “Globally, more than 3 in 10 women and babies currently do not receive postnatal care in the first days after birth – the period when most maternal and infant deaths occur. Meanwhile, the physical and emotional consequences of childbirth – from injuries to repeated pain and trauma – can be debilitating if left untreated, but are often completely treatable when the right care is given at the right time. … weeks after birth are important for building relationships and establishing behaviors that affect the long-term development and health of the infant.” WHO encourages quality care women and newborns in the critical first weeks after childbirth
In reading this, we must remember that, in the US, women who give birth do not receive any follow up care in the first 6 critical weeks after giving birth. The recommended first follow up after birth is at 6 weeks in the US. Our health care system is broken and can be very dangerous, especially for marginalized and underserved communities. A doula provides a safety net for people
childbirth and their families who are between the cracks of care. I am honored and consider it a privilege to have helped many people make the transition of welcoming a new soul into their family safer and more peacefully.
In some places, like Germany for example, having a midwife give you care is a legal right. These midwives provide birth support in the hospital and provide postpartum care with home visits. These places have taken the role that we US doulas provide and have marked it as necessary so they have made it right to include it in the care received from your midwife/birth care provider.
It is a widely known fact that American women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the entire developed world. Black women in America are THREE TIMES more likely to die in childbirth than any other race, according to the CDC. Birth rates have increased and maternal mortality rates have decreased in other countries that provide comprehensive antenatal, delivery and postpartum care. In fact we also know here in the US, when we have a doula step in the gap
with care, the birth outcome is better. In a study documented by the NIH, it was found that “Doula-assisted mothers were four times less likely to have a low birth weight (LBW) baby, twice as likely to experience complications in childbirth involving themselves or their baby, and were significantly more likely to initiate breastfeeding. Communication and encouragement from a doula throughout pregnancy may have increased the mother’s self-efficacy about her ability to affect her own pregnancy outcomes. Impact of Doulas on Healthy Birth Outcomes – PMC We need more doulas! We have a birth problem in America that has left us, as a people, out of alignment. This is why doula work is so important in the United States. We must close that gap in the care of our newborns. We see long-term and significant improvements in the experience of childbirth and/or parenting, when this type of intensive care is practiced.
In 2020, I deeply think that to get ahead, pushing myself as hard as I can as long as I can, is the only way to do it. I worked two part time jobs. Between our 4 jobs, my husband and I can probably easily count the handful of weekends we’ve spent with our kids in 5 years. We took our family back and forth, working in hopes of achieving the dream of financial stability and home ownership. And it worked. We got a new family car and bought our home in March 2020. But we are not compatible. Our scales are wildly unbalanced and we have no idea. When the pandemic hit and I was home for 4 months, I realized two things. I need people. Being home alone with 3 kids and no adult interaction as a break, was a big change. The second thing I realized was that I was in complete survival mode, keeping my head above water and missing life around me. I began to seek to find an exit strategy from this life. In March 2021, I left the one I loved, but it no longer served me and ended my professional relationship with the restaurant industry. I began to ask myself what I could do, how I could find a life that brought me purpose, joy, was in line with my personal values and above all gave me balance. I’ve been through labor and postpartum work. Since the birth of my first child, I have been a passionate and outspoken advocate for comprehensive and safe care for people at this stage of life. I found myself in a position to take that passion and make a concrete difference in people’s lives and do it while providing for my family.
I view doula work in my life as the great balancer of the scales of justice. I work and provide for my family while aligning my life with my values. I believe that the life of each family I touch helps to start each of the little new lives in greater balance. Those children will one day come out into the world as adults whose parents, hopefully, will be in a better place to parent because of my presence in their lives in those early postpartum days. As a doula, it’s important to remember that you’re not taking a life when you help someone give birth or give them postpartum care. You have added goodness to this world. That energy goes on to touch the lives of every person they are involved with and their children are involved.
I plan to continue to grow and learn each year in hopes of bringing more and more to the world as I go along. Being a doula gave me the ability to grow as a person, to balance my soul and my life. I am now being called to expand my impact on our birth doula training community. The lesson that this life has taught me in the last two years is that we must be quiet and find out where we are called. When we follow the path we are called too, that is when our lives fall into alignment. I know my future holds the continued growth of this profession in big and great ways, through my own education, by advocating for this type of work and by encouraging others.
