Postpartum doula training and care for women experiencing incarceration

At the center of Global Doula Project’s mission is the belief that everybody deserves to give birth in a safe, supportive community in which mothers are listened to and respected.

Everybody includes women experiencing incarceration.

In partnership with Global Doula Project, Alex White (Hour Children), Nubia Earth-Martin (Birth from the Earth), and Jen Chandlee (Luminous Postpartum) have developed a program to offer postpartum doula training to women incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, NY. The women who go through this program offer pregnancy and postpartum support to mothers who give birth during their time at Bedford Hills, and it now also offers them DONA International certification which helps them to practice as postpartum doulas after they have been released.

Incarcerated women at beford hills support moms on the inside with care and understanding.

Women incarcerated at Bedford Hills are able to have their babies with them for one year after birth, which can be extended to 18 months in some circumstances. This is a law that goes back around 100 years, and Bedford Hills is considered to be the first prison nursery in the USA. As well as offering the infrastructure for mothers to keep their babies with them during their time in the prison, the nursery at Bedford Hills includes lactation support, a social worker, and a therapist, as well as the postpartum support offered by currently incarcerated women. Recidivism for women who have access to these resources, or to similar support in other prisons, is around 3-4%, compared to approximately 16% for incarcerated women across the US (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2013-2017). This highlights that offering a supportive, dignified pregnancy and postpartum experience to incarcerated women is not just “nice”, but has a profound long-term impact for the women, their children, and society at large.

equity Trainer nubia earth Martin poses with aspiring doulas during postpartum doula training held in the nursery of bedford hills correctional facility.

Alex, Nubia, and Jen also help the women in the program to understand the factors contributing to worse birth outcomes for marginalized groups, especially Black women, so that they are better equipped to confront biases that they are likely to encounter in the course of pregnancy and birth. Through sharing and mutual support, they learn strategies to advocate for themselves, and to take steps to mitigate the factors that are often working against them.

Thanks to Hour Children, a nonprofit in New York supporting incarcerated individuals and their families, the support offered to the mothers extends beyond the immediate postpartum period, to include helping them access resources and connections that can help to set them up for success once they are no longer in the program. This can reach outside of Bedford Hills, and includes ensuring that mothers and their children have safe housing to return to, that they have basic necessities like soap and shampoo, that they have medical and mental health appointments set up, and that they are connected to broader community resources. This “reentry” work is critical for helping mothers to have positive outcomes for the longer term.

It is transformative for mothers at Bedford Hills to be supported by people who understand their experience, and the context in which they are giving birth and sharing the early stages of their child’s life.

Prisons are not generally set up to nurture their residents, so it is life-changing for these women to receive care that is truly oriented towards giving them the best chance of success during and beyond the pregnancy and postpartum periods. This program illustrates that investing in doula training and care can have far-reaching societal impact.

Alex, Nubia, and Jen joined Global Doula Project founder Anne Kathryn on the Birth, Death and Doulas Podcast. Listen to the Episode “Postpartum Doula Training for Women Experiencing Incarceration” to learn more about the training at Bedford Hills.