Springfield Community Based Doulas
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Doulas
In Our Community


A doula is a trained and experienced professional who gives continuous physical, emotional and informational support to birthing families before, during & after birth. Doulas provide information and education about childbirth, newborns and local community resources to support the mother, partner and family. Some practical tasks that a doula do with birthing families include:
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  • Helping identify current, up-to-date evidence-based information about birthing options and hospital procedures so that they develop their own birthing preferences
  • Helping parent(s)- to- be practice various comfort techniques for labor so that they are prepared for a typical and a not typical birth
  • Helping birthing families learn their rights in health- care settings so that they are empowered to advocate for themselves and their baby
  • Helping make a detailed Family Plan for the time after the baby comes home
  • Helping new parent (s) navigate infancy, and the beginning weeks postpartum
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First SCBD baby birthed in 2017.


At Springfield Community Based Doulas, we want to get community members in Springfield eligible for  doula certification. The certification process can present barriers to access for individuals in low-paying jobs. Initial and ongoing costs of certification are challenging, and the learning  framework more closely resembles traditional  academic models than experiential-based programs of evaluation. Bringing in someone like a Doulas of North America International (DONA) trainer that trains community health workers and is interested in making a hybrid training, is a critical step in the right direction.
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Mother and baby on their way to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, after a successful birth.
Springfield Community-Based Doulas would like doula work to be satisfying and sustainable.  We would like our doulas to be paid for their work considering different payment models:
  • Advocating for a track for community health workers in perinatal care to utilize federally- funded training funds. This community based doula model and funding stream has already proven successful with the Health Connect One program
  • Making paid doula care available as a Medicaid benefit for Massachusetts. New York has a pilot program, and Vermont’s program went live July 1: doulas get paid if certified by 1 of 7 doula organizations
  • Reaching out to ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) in Western Mass to brainstorm funding for doula care
  • Reaching out to BACE NMC  (Boston Association for Childbirth Education & the Nursing Mothers’ Council), and the March of Dimes about research on costs of doula services and possible pilot programs – open to doulas trained and able to be certified.​
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Goals
    • Become a Doula
    • Find a Doula
  • Resources
  • Support Us
    • Time, Treasure, Talent
  • Contact Us