03/19/2026
They say it takes a village, but we don't often talk about what builds that village. In our latest conversation with one of doulas Lydia Long, we dove into how our own roots and stories shape the way we show up for new parents.
We asked: How does your heritage, community, or personal history weave into the way you support families?
Check out her powerful response below. 👇
"I learned so much by witnessing my grandmother's drive to take care of others and the artistic and unassuming way that she made the lives of everyone around her easier. This matriarch who raised seven children, animals, a garden and anyone who needed care, did all the cooking and laundry, answered every call, and prayed over every booboo, was also the impoverished young girl growing up during The Great Depression caring for several younger siblings and working the fields when confronted with her first period - thinking she was dying in an outhouse because no one told her periods were a thing. She is also the teen who almost delivered her first baby in the toilet because no one talked to her about labor and she thought she was having a bowel movement. She did not tell these stories for sympathy. She told them humorously to make her family laugh and remind us that we may experience the depths of despair but can also overcome hard things and laugh about it later. She was such a great support to everyone because she knew what no support was like. She filled every gap because they would not have been filled otherwise. However, despite all she did, nothing could compare to how she made others feel - welcome, heard, valued, capable, comforted and loved like family. As important and meaningful as they are, the simple tasks that I do to make my client's lives easier could never compare to how I make them feel. "
