The Dewdrop Doula

11/21/2024

If it seems that I’ve fallen off of social media. This is why! There has been tireless work taking place behind the scenes. So grateful for the ability to love on our community in multiple capacities!

06/02/2024

⭐️New birthworkers⭐️

⭐️Often over the course of our prenatal doula support our clients openly share the struggles and excitements they experience with their care providers.

⭐️ Some prenatal 🚩 are obvious and some are hidden very well. Often massive 🚩only wave high at the very end of pregnancy or once you are admitted for labor.

⭐️This IS a situation you will encounter at some point in your career. In certain birthing environments it’s all too common. It’s equally heartbreaking and frustrating.

⭐️This situation requires you to be professionally adaptive with support and hold space for your client to advocate and have collaborative care conversations with their provider.

Are you:
⭐️ Interested in joining birthwork?
⭐️ Seeking to learn professional advocacy skills?

This is one of many scenarios you will learn to flawlessly and professionally navigate.

⭐️ Sign up for:

BLOOM BIRTH DOULA TRAINING
🗓️AUG 31 & SEPT 7
⏰9:30AM-4PM

Pelham, Alabama

05/17/2024

⭐️Interested in joining birth work?

We are Excited to Announce…

BLOOM will be hosting a two day in person Birth Doula training

⭐️Limited Space Available⭐️

🗓️ (Saturdays) August 31st & September 7th
⏰ 9:30am - 4:00pm

Cost: $725
Scholarship options available

Spots will fill in order of application.

We look forward to seeing you there!

08/25/2023

06/13/2023

Doulamatch is a wonderful resource for our communities. Are you or someone you love searching for birth or postpartum support? Make sure you check out www.DoulaMatch.net and start interviewing doulas today!

Having a baby in Alabama? You need a doula!

Go to https://doulamatch.net/search, enter your due date and zip code to find doulas available for your due date.

Two great doulas available now:

Heather Felder
https://doulamatch.net/profile/16213

Juanita Harris
https://doulamatch.net/profile/13409

04/15/2023

4 births in 4 days!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to hold space for some of the most amazing individuals! it’s been a wild and beautiful week!

04/06/2023

👥Consumers. Do you know?

Doulas can have conflicts of interest. This conflict can directly impact the quality of care they provide to you!

🎤Some doulas willingly choose to partner with hospitals, providers, research groups, certifying organizations, and nonprofit groups.

To better understand, let's cover the variations of practicing doulas.

⭐Private Hire Doulas:
Answer solely to the birther. No 3rd party connections

⭐Research/Non-Profit Doulas: Receive funding, contract with various organizations, abide by hospital policy, and are obligated to submit research and information collected on birthers.

⭐Vendor (partnership) or hospital Doulas:
Contracted with the hospital and abide by hospital policy

⭐Provider/Hospital "Preferred" "Recommended" Doulas:
This is sticky, dig deeper and ask questions.

⭐Certified Doulas:
Contracted with an organization and required to abide by the organization's policies.

🗣I CAN NOT SAY THIS LOUD ENOUGH:

💯Professional Birthwork is a business (This includes Nonprofits)

🧐Why does it matter.

📢Because the maternal mortality rate is too high to be playing business games in birthing spaces

A majority of you have actually witnessed this "conflict of interest" in other areas of care.

Example:
Nurses stated they can not allow x,y, or z due to "hospital policy'. (OR) They stand silent, sink their heads, and share their true thoughts once the "higher-ranking" staff exits the room.

🧐Why?

Conflict of interest. They like/need their job. Their hands are tied. Many Doulas and organizations position themselves in the same boat.

✋🏾I can only speak to Alabama's Central and Southcentral regions.

✋🏾As a POC, once forced to birth in Alabama's busted ass, maternal care system... I implore you......

💻Interview and research your doulas.
You do not want to discover in the birthing space that your doula is in fact, a part of a broken system.

Doulas..Do better... Be transparent

✨See my transparency in the comments

03/23/2023

All of this!

Happy World Doula Week!! I started birthwork in 1999 as a postpartum doula. This is a picture of my first hospital birth doula clients in 2002. This was an induction and a long on at that. What have I learned since then?
🔆 Doulas will burn out without self care
🔆 Doulas will burn out without boundaries
🔆Doulas have biases that need checked often
🔆Doulas need to and should advocate.
🔆Doulas can not fight harder than their clients will fight for themselves.
🔆All Birth Givers are worthy to be heard.
🔆A doula’s role is more than physical and emotional support.
🔆Doulas should charge their worth and experience.
🔆Certifications do not make a doula better or worse.
🔆Doulas need Doulas too.
Happy Doula Week Friends!
Did you have a doula?
Doula, What have you leaned since you started?

03/16/2023

✋🏾Stop it in its tracks✋🏾

🫶🏾You do not owe anyone a seat or an experience.

✊🏽If in general it makes you uncomfortable to tell relatives “no” (or) if they always find a way to slide their opinions in, and tiptoe over boundaries

📣DO NOT ALLOW THEM IN📣

This means:
☑️Your parents (esp mamas)
☑️Siblings
☑️Grandparents
☑️Best friends
☑️In laws

The list goes on….

✋🏾 Every-single birth worker can share a story of the “martyred birther”. The birther that felt they owed someone a seat and excused behavior and comments simply because [example:] “that’s just my mama”.

✋🏾Generational/familial trauma is sneaky. When given an inch it will enter the birthing space.

🫶🏾Your birthing experience is yours alone. You are not predestined to experience family birthing trauma. (Though many are programmed to believe otherwise).

📣This is not your mom’s experience, not your grandmother’s, not your aunt’s experience, not your friend’s experience.

✊🏽Should you choose to allow family members into your birthing space. Deeply vet them parentally. They must be aligned and truly supportive. They must also understand at anytime you may ask them to leave (no reason or cause needed)

🫶🏾 Put you first 🫶🏾

01/30/2023

❤️When holding space, I am reminded of this quote. This is applicable No matter where or how you birth

❤️The whole point of woman-centered birth is the knowledge that a woman is the birth power source. She may need, and deserve, help, but in essence, she always had, currently has, and will have the power.
Heather McCue

01/19/2023

📣 As of January 19, 2023,
I will no longer attend births at UAB of Birmingham, Alabama.

This was not a difficult decision.

In recent months UAB of Birmingham has made many things crystal clear.

🛑 This institute has forcefully demanded that private practicing doulas sign a "partnership agreement" with this hospital upon arrival for the client's birth.

🛑 The simple existence of this contract speaks to the much larger issue at hand

📑 We are hired privately by birthing families for a reason.

✔️ Currently, our birthers are allowed 3 support people. None of which are asked to sign a "partnership agreement".

However, if you are trained and educated in evidence-based childbirth, human rights in childbirth, advocacy,autonomous trauma-informed care, and support individuals in informed consent and refusal... you are a threat to this system.

🤔Yall. Sit with that and really reflect on what this points to.

✔️I have been badgered and harassed.

✔️Multiple clients have been harassed WHILE LABORING. Stating that if I "didn't enter into a partnership with the hospital, I would not be allowed to enter the building" (remember, they are allowed 3 support people)

✔️I have been badgered and pulled from the client's side repeatedly in attempts to coerce and force me to sign a partnership agreement.

⭐️ I am not alone in this.

In the past few months:

❌4 professional Doulas have been verbally attacked in front of clients

❌Clients laboring in tears have advocated for their doulas to stay. Only to be told their support member would be removed

❌Forcefully removed due to not agreeing to a partnership (4 Officers and a pregnant doula)

❌Doulas have been called by hospital staff

❌Staff members have directly told clients that the client's own "private contract with their doula is void if the doula didn't enter into UAB's partnership"

❌Doulas have been told that this is from DONA, so we should have no issue signing

❌Pulled from laboring clients side repeatedly to be reprimanded and warned to sign the contract

⭐️ This has happened to 4 private practicing professional doulas.

⭐️ Collectively they have over 50 years of experience. This is inexcusable and beyond unacceptable.

🛑 To force individuals into a partnership with the use of threats, force, coercion, and manipulation of doulas and clients in abuse.

🥴Forced submission is a stomach turn and again speaks volumes.

Again and again. This institute interacts with professional support individuals in this way.

🤔 Sit with this and think about if this is where you would feel safe, heard, respected, and autonomous.

Much love to all!

09/17/2022

I know I reached this point with each of my births. Typically through transition 🤣

Who can relate to this feeling in parts of your labour?
Did something someone said bother you? Did you feel aggravated at some point?
I sure did with my first labour. I really wanted to be left alone.