Why Black Doulas Matter More Than Ever

Black women are 3–4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.
Let’s stop pretending that’s okay.

This isn’t just about access to care. It’s about how care is delivered—and who’s in the room when it’s happening.

As we recognize Black Maternal Health Week, The Healthy Project is proud to spotlight the voices of Black doulas from the Iowa Black Doula Collective—a group of women showing up in hospital rooms, homes, and birth centers with purpose, power, and deep cultural understanding.

“Being a Black doula means carrying some of the weight of systemic racism into every room we walk into.”
That line hit hard.

Because when a Black doula shows up, she’s not just a birth worker—she’s an advocate, a protector, and often the only one in the room who sees the full picture.

Here’s What Black Doulas Are Really Doing:

• Giving voice to people who may not feel safe or empowered to use theirs
• Fighting for consent, respect, and options in a system that often ignores Black birthing people
• Holding the line when providers push unnecessary interventions
• Educating families about their rights, their bodies, and their choices
• Creating community and sisterhood in a space that too often isolates

One doula in our documentary shared how she blocked a forced C-section—while seven months pregnant herself. Her words?
“If you're gonna cut her, you're gonna have to cut me first.”
That’s not just care. That’s resistance.

Why This Work Feels Familiar
If this feels like protest, that’s because it is.
It’s Rosa on the bus. It’s Lauryn on the mic. It’s community over control.
Black doulas carry the same fight in the birth room that our people have carried in the streets, schools, and courtrooms for generations.
The difference? They're helping bring in new life while protecting it at the same time.

So What Can You Do?
This week is about action, not just awareness. Here's how you show up:

• Support doula access policies in your city and state
• Refer Black birthing people to Black doulas
• Include doulas in hospital care teams—they’re not a “nice to have,” they’re a need to have
• Share the doc with someone who thinks doulas only do breathing techniques
• Fund the work—directly, through grants, partnerships, and platforming

Watch “I Got You, Sis: The Power of Black Doulas”
Created in collaboration with the Iowa Black Doula Collective.
Featuring: Ebonie Bailey, Dr. Keyah Levy, Jay Williams, Ashley Garrin, and Roselin Boyles
Directed and Produced by: Healthy Project Media

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
What’s happening in your community around birth justice?
Know a powerful doula we should highlight?
Reply to this email or tag us @thehealthyprojectmedia.

Together, we shift the narrative. One birth, one story, one village at a time.

—The Healthy Project Team

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Let’s build the village that protects our people.