Maine indigenous organization trained 30 new doulas [View all]

[Jilly_in_VA]

Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness for the first time has trained about 30 doulas to help families leading up to and during birth as other birthing services across the state have ceased.

Lisa Sockabasin, co-CEO of the health organization based in Bangor, said she heard from concerned community members about the crisis of closing birthing centers across Maine, so Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness decided to help fill in the gaps.

Most of the participants in the late-September training were Indigenous, though some were not, she said. A tribal chief participated, as well as other community members. The trainers were Indigenous doulas from Canada.

Sockabasin said it is important to have Indigenous doulas in particular because they can incorporate cultural aspects into their work.

“It’s about that time being honored, being sacred. It’s a very spiritual time,” she said. “That birth is a ceremony.

Doulas are nonmedical care workers who provide educational, physical and emotional support to pregnant, birthing and postpartum people and their families. A 2023 survey of 45 doulas, conducted by the Maine Doula Coalition, found they were overwhelmingly female and white, and highly concentrated in southern Maine.

https://apnews.com/article/lisa-sockabasin-maine-wellness-public-health-general-news-648bcbd2290dbc197256ca108ee8bde3

This is extremely important, with the closing of birthing centers all across Maine (and the country). It is important, also, to train midwives, both indigenous and non-indigenous, for the same reason.