Episode 40: Free Doula Services

A doula walks into a Facebook group and asks about providing free doula services, suddenly a rigorous debate ensues.

Some doulas are encouraged as a part of their training to provide free services in order to get certified.

Other doulas have felt the financial blow that those offering free doula services have on their community. Specifically their ability to charge a living wage.

Then you have the doulas who come into this profession from a place of financial privilege that just wants to help families and doesn’t need to earn a wage.

For many years the discussion centered on the scenarios above and how they impact other doulas.

More recently an awareness that this conversation must also include the various approaches to serving at-risk communities. Specifically serving those in the BIOPIC communities.

In this episode, we take a look at many sides of this “Free Doula” conversation. We explore our ideas for serving the at-risk populations and who we believe would best serve them.