Strollerderby

I gotta say, this woman is not alone. I know that while I paid a good chunk of money for my doula, she also does a lot of work for free for teen and single moms in the area. In our case, this is mostly poor native american girls from a local reservation. But the same thing applies- she's a doula, LC, parenting teacher, you name it.

Thank god for people like this. She was great for me, a middle class married woman at a birth center, but I know she is incredibly crucial for those 18 year old scared girls that she also works with.

I hope I get to see this documentary!

Bellevue hospital, here in New York City, actually has a wonderful volunteer doula program at their in-hospital birth center, which mostly serves low-income women. It's also interesting to note that the majority of midwives actually work with low-income women and communities. I feel like a lot of people have begun to associate midwives (and doulas especially) with the upper-middle class, but the reality and the history of the profession, is actually quite different.

CoolDoulasRule: My doula and others in her local association also provide pro-bono support for underprivileged mothers. I think the type of women who work in this field tend to be very selfless and empathetic.

A friend of mine also does all the things listed in the article for teen moms in our area in Southern Oregon. She is amazing, patient, kind and wonderful.