She said there aren’t enough Black doula teachers. So she became one.
Over the past few years, Milwaukeearea doulas have noticed an increased interest in their profession.
Doulas are non-medical professionals who are trained to assist pregnant people through childbirth. While doulas have been utilized by pregnant people for centuries, especially in communities of color, the recognition of a need for assistance and advocacy has increased partly due to greater attention to the higher rates of maternal and infant mortality in the African American community.
A few years ago, Milwaukee’s African American Breastfeeding Network received grants to start the Community Doula Initiative, a project that educated and supported African American doulas in the Milwaukee area and trained them to lead information sessions in their communities.
More recently, Milwaukee doula Kay’La Mumford, with assistance from AABN and doula colleagues, received a grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program for the WeRISE program, to train 25 African American community doulas to provide labor and delivery support to 100 Black women in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties.
The importance of cultural education in doula training
While Mumford and her doula colleagues have noticed the increased interest in doula-assisted childbirth and are especially thrilled with the increase in Black doulas and in Black people who give birth with the assistance of a doula, they’ve also noted that most doula trainers continue to be white, lacking the cultural component that community-based doulas need to understand.
A doula training certification typically includes workshops, reading, in-person classes on topics like childbirth education and breastfeeding and attendance at a certain number of births under the supervision of health professionals and a doula mentor.
Many groups that offer doula training certification have recently updated their curriculum to reflect the importance of cultural competence. For example, DONA International — the largest and oldest doula certification organization in the world — offers webinars that highlight cultural education and the impact of race and gender privilege on birth.
However, many doulas believe there needs to be a more comprehensive focus on issues specific to Black pregnant people and Black doulas — and those classes should be taught by Black doulas.
That’s where Mumford comes in.
The importance of Black representation in doula training
“In 2019, I was pregnant with my second daughter, and I didn’t want to go back to the hospital and be judged for being a single mom. I had a home birth with a midwife, and it was really great,” said Mumford. “I didn’t want to be a midwife, but I wanted to help people. There was a doula training two weeks after I had my daughter. I went there with a newborn and all and from there I got certified.“
Mumford said she learned valuable information from her doula training, but she didn’t receive training in how to help people from marginalized communities advocate for themselves.
Following her work on the WeRISE project, she formed her own nonprofit, Birth & Embrace Community, Inc. “to provide equality to birthing BIPOC and Black birth workers.” She began offering doula training courses at the end of 2020.
“The main goal of my nonprofit is to provide equity for both birthing people and birthworkers who are members of marginalized communities,” Mumford said.
Milwaukee doula Terri Simmons has seen firsthand how Mumford’s experience — both with her own births and with her advocacy for others — informs Mumford’s trainings.
“Kay’La has some lived experiences of how birth affects the BIPOC community, and she also has always seen birthwork through the lens of birth equity,” said Simmons. “She puts numbers on some of the disparities and shows the history behind some of the doula practices. I love that overarching cultural relevance piece she includes that I’ve found other trainers to be lacking.”
Another Milwaukee doula, Mia Morse, said Mumford’s is the first doula training class taught by a Black person that she knows of in Milwaukee. Morse said her own doula training was valuable and informative, but that it lacked some factors that are “specific to Black and brown culture.” For example, Morse said doulas who have Black clients should understand that family members beyond the immediate family — such as grandparents, aunts and uncles — often participate in the birthing process more than in white families, and therefore need to be included in the education and advocacy process.
Morse also noted that Mumford’s focus on birth equity gives marginalized communities the opportunity to access education that is often unavailable to them.
“Nine times out of ten, most families don’t know anything about the birthing process because we don’t have the education and resources available, especially in the inner city, that are affordable and attainable,” said Morse. “Most birthing classes are in hospitals and could cost a lot of money.”
Morse also said racial stereotypes and systemic racism make it more difficult for Black women to be heard — a problem that must be overcome both by Black people when they are giving birth as well as the Black doulas who advocate for them.
Simmons thinks Mumford’s training goes a long way toward helping Black women feel empowered to express themselves not just by training them to advocate for themselves, but also by giving them ownership of the concepts of doula work itself. She pointed out that the “granny midwife” in Black communities was the origin of doula work.
Mumford said her doula certification program requires 30 hours of classes and workshops, attendance at 3 births and work with a “doula sister” mentor. She also encourages her students to participate in a doula healing circle.