Broadcast by Kyra Miles
Graphics by Hailey Haymond
MILES: April Kelly gets her three children ready in the morning with a song….
NATSOUND: Good morning song
MILES: She has three girls–ages 10, 4, and 2-
KELLY: And then we have the little boy on the way finally.
MILES: The Greenville native runs a small online business for working moms. Her first three births were in a hospital, but her experience felt rushed.
KELLY: I feel like I was very pressured to hurry up with the process, like, hurry the process along as far as birth, as opposed to allowing it to kind of naturally happen all three times
MILES: So for this pregnancy, Kelly and her family sought an alternative
KELLY: When I got pregnant this time around, I knew that I was going to be in search of a doula and I knew I wanted a black doula because I wanted someone who could relate to me as a black woman.
MILES: Doulas are spiritual, physical, and emotional supporters for moms throughout their pregnancies. When Kelly met her doula, Angel Whitehurst, they instantly clicked–partly, because of Whitehurst’s endorsement for homebirths.
WHITEHURST: When you actually let the body do everything naturally with no interventions, the endorphins in the things that are released when you have had the baby, it’s literally euphoric.
MILES: Another doula helping moms get that euphoric feeling is Maya Jackson, the founder of MAAME Incorporated. —– The organization is a doula collective based in Durham that uses education and advocacy to empower Black and Indigenous birthing people of color.
JACKSON: I feel like having someone that looks like you can help provide that education from a more lived experience and cultural standpoint.
MILES: Unlike nurse-midwives, doulas are not certified to provide medical care but they advocate for mothers whose voices are not being heard. In the past, Black women underwent various experimental operations against their will, and that makes it hard for Black mothers to trust their doctors, even today.
JACKSON: The current healthcare system has created this box for us to all go into. And we don’t have an option. Those type of systems that create barriers make it very difficult for black and brown doulas particularly to be able to do their work for their community.
MILES: In 2016, researchers from the University of Virginia surveyed white medical students to examine racial bias in pain management. They found that 40 percent held false beliefs about biological differences between Black and white people–like Black people’s skin is thicker or that they have stronger bones. This kind of bias can be life-threatening, especially to Black mothers who are two to three times more likely to die in childbirth.
JACKSON: And that has to change.
MILES: In hospitals, nurses and doctors can’t dedicate all of their time to one patient, but studies have shown that the constant presence of a doula reduces C-sections, maternal anxiety, and can improve communication between women and their health care providers. Dr. Angela Haskins–an OBGYN of 12-years— says there’s still work to be done.
HASKINS: I find myself having to sometimes even prove to my patients that I have their best interests at heart. In some ways, doulas play a role as well, in that they’re there to support the mom. But they also have that understanding that labor is a process.
MILES: Dr. Haskins has worked with doulas a couple of times, but every hospital, every birth, and every mother’s situation is different. What’s important is the common goal–to have a happy and healthy baby.
MILES: Kelly is preparing to meet that goal in August by practicing birthing positions with her doula for her homebirth.
NATSPOP: Practicing birthing positions at the Kelly house
KELLY: For the most part, I just wanted a more freeing experience.
MILES: Some hospitals have set up in-house doula training programs to better address racial and economic disparities in maternal health. These efforts combined with those from private organizations like MAAME, Inc. continue to advocate for mothers and their children. In Greenville, I’m Kyra Miles.
