Job Loss

We just found out that my position at work is being eliminated and they will no longer be offering Doula services. The financial impact on me is minimal because we were moving anyway. But the effect on my psyche is significant. It certainly leaves me (and the 12 other doulas) feeling undervalued and disposable, especially in light of the fact that there were no other layoffs at the hospital. It has been challenging to find the window God has opened as this door is being closed. Some of my coworkers have found it too painful and have chosen to walk away from this work. No one becomes a Doula to get rich and famous. We do it to help women transition into motherhood with grace, dignity and empowerment. We can blame the slumping economy, the fiasco of American Health care or the hospital administrators but it is truly a shameful day when hospitals tell women that it is no longer important that they get the best possible quality of care. Women have the right to informed, empowered birth options. This was one of the largest hospital based Doula programs on the East Coast and we have served thousands of people since the program began. My heart aches to think of the hard work, sweat and soul that was poured into this program by countless doulas over the years..... all wiped away with single stroke of the red pen. I hope that in my lifetime birth is viewed not as a means to ends but rather as a transformative journey to "motherland", a journey which we learn to support, mind body and soul.