Doula and founder of Bebo Mia, Bianca Sprague, and Stacy have a conversation about the role of doulas in the birthing experience, the mental wellness of everyone involved, and equitable access to perinatal care. It’s because of traumatic birth stories like Stacy’s that she shares in this epsiode that Bianca strives to provide emotional, physical, and informational care and bring back autonomy to make sure people feel empowered in their birth, whatever that looks like.
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Key Takeaways
Introductions
- Bianca is the founder of Bebo Mia, has been a dedicated educator, author, activist, and doula since 2007. She is passionate about accessible pre and postnatal care for marginalized communities, and she advocates for mental wellness in families, drawing from her struggle with postpartum depression and family experiences.
- Bebo Mia has been invited as speakers and panelists for Entrepreneurial Feminist Form, Evidence Based Birth, Mamas & Co, Baby Shows, Birth Summits, and more! Additonally, featured in Huffington Post, Global News, Breakfast Television, Today’s Parent, Toronto Star, Fast Company, Mothering Magazine, just to name a few.
Doulas
A doula really is there to bring it back to evidence-based care. It’s what the governing bodies are saying this is what we should be operating from. And doulas are really there for the whole team. So partners, if the birther has one, or whoever’s in the room, they also are going to need to time to rest and eat and call family and have that same kind of experience of being able to opt in and out to comfort. – Bianca Sprague
- Doulas are trained and certified professionals to support a birthing person’s wishes and protect their autonomy. They are also there to provide emotional, physical, and informational care.
- A common myth is that doulas are just for home births. That’s not true! Doulas are available for operative briths or whatever their client wants.
- Bianca says a good doula should not be attached to their client’s choices, just evidenced-based care. Unfortunately, practice-based care is what often happens in the hospital and is based on what insurance, doctors, and the hospital needs or wants.
- Bianca believes we’ve taken the “sacredness” out of the birthing experience and and medicalized birth. Often birthing people are experiencing soul-harm, micro, and macro aggressions, especially women of color.
- Stacy shares her full story of her
- If you are on a fertility or reproductive health journey, Bianca recommends getting a doula!
Stacy’s Story
- Stacy shares her very personal experience as a woman of size, having an unplanned pregnancy as an early 20-something.
- She experienced significant harm from anti-fat bias. That bias caused a planned C-section for her first child, based solely on fear-mongering. Additionally, the doctor assumed she would develop gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, but she experienced neither.
- Her doctor also informed her that her baby weighed 10-11lbs (when he actually weighed 8lb 1 oz). He suggested that she was “too fat” and insinuated the baby would suffocate in the birth canal. She now knows this assertion is completely unsupported by science.
- So as a new mom, she made the decision for my child’s safety, not knowing better.
- For her second pregnancy, she changed doctors and got a doula. It was an entirely different experience!
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