By PrincessSafiya Byers, courtesy of MKE Neighborhood News Service
Jazmine Duncan, 35, always wanted to be a doula.
And after using a doula for her pregnancy, she became motivated to complete the process to become one.
“My experience having a doula was just so great. I want to be able to provide that same experience to others,” she said.
Both Jazemine Duncan and her mother, Barbara Duncan, completed training and have become a certified doulas together through the African American Breastfeeding Network.
Barbara Duncan, 53, said she didn’t know anything about doulas until her daughter had one, but she loved being present for experience.
“Her doula was amazing,” she said. “To be able to advocate for someone is awesome to me.”
The mother and daughter were certified in October as community-based doulas along with 15 other Milwaukee women through the African American Breastfeeding Network, or AABN.
Doulas are trained professionals whose job it is to provide support and resources before, during and after childbirth.
‘Ready to help’’
“This is a history-making moment for our community,” said Dalvery Blackwell, the executive director of AABN. “Never has an organization implemented a 20-week community-based doula training in Milwaukee. We are very proud of all of the graduates. Their commitment proves that they are ready to help improve maternal-infant health outcomes.”
The Medical College of Wisconsin Institute for Health & Equity is partnering with community groups like AABN to look at what contributes to maternal morbidity in Southeast Wisconsin.
According to the most recent Wisconsin Maternal Mortality Report, Black, Non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic mothers made up 24% of Wisconsin births in 2016-2017, yet they represented 42% of all pregnancy-related deaths.
AABN’s doula program is part of a national resurgence of doulas’ work in response to the U.S. maternal-infant health crisis, Blackwell said.
Greater risks for Black mothers
Nationally, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than non-Hispanic White women, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
However, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, in Wisconsin, they are five times more likely to die.
AABN hopes to change that.
The organization has received funding from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to replicate the nationally recognized HealthConnect One doula model and provide direct services to 130 pregnant women in Milwaukee.
Leave a Reply