Doulas Working in Prisons

Most of us will never have to worry about being incarcerated during our pregnancies.  Nonetheless, the voices of birthing mothers in prison are important for all of us to hear.  According to doulas Marianne Bullock and Vicki Elson of the Prison Birth Project (PBP), most mothers who are incarcerated have committed nonviolent crimes, and represent the most disadvantaged segments of our society.  Other doulas might choose to reach out to this population, and the work of PBP can serve as their guide.  When I learned about PBP, this statement struck me the most powerfully:  "Of all the women who have ever received PBP’s doula services and then been released, only one has returned to jail so far. We believe that doula care is stopping a cycle of violence and trauma to mother and baby during delivery, and helping women to have the tools to make healthier choices. Other prison birth programs report similar decreases in recidivism."  Visit the PBP Web site to learn how you can help, at theprisonbirthproject.org.  (Ways to help are as simple as writing a Mother's Day message that will be delivered to an incarcerated woman via the PBP Web site.)  Marianne Bullock and Vicki Elson tell the story of PBP below.