The Caribbean Women's Health Association has initiated a community-based doula program in Brooklyn to combat high maternal mortality rates among Black women. This program offers support during pregnancy and postpartum, empowering women to articulate their birth preferences. Participants share experiences highlighting the role of doulas in providing comfort measures, breastfeeding assistance, and emotional support. This initiative addresses systemic issues in healthcare, emphasizing the importance of listening to mothers’ concerns to ensure better outcomes for mothers and infants.
"Sometimes you hear a lot of horror stories about being a Black woman giving birth. So I wanted to feel heard, I wanted to feel included."
"We worked on comfort measures to help ease the condition of natural labor. Because the hospitals automatically come up with the idea of, you know, 'You can have an epidural if you want, you should have an epidural.' And we're like, 'Mom says she wants to do this.'"
"She helped me, to show me, how to make the milk flow. You know, it was hard for me to pick up the baby. She showed me how to pick up the baby."
"If they're saying that they're experiencing pain, they're experiencing pain. For the physicians, listen."
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