04/23/2026
Have you noticed hospitals hiring doulas? Doctors training doulas?
The medical system has made a mess. Our maternal mortality rate is horrible, the impact of racism on birth is staggering, and nothing they’ve done has improved this. With (mostly i think) good intentions folks are looking at us to fix problems we didn’t create and we are powerless to do so. We aren’t the ones writing orders, ignoring informed consent, etc, and no matter how good we are at our job, the obstetric machine will do theirs as they do.
So now, in response to the disasters we didn’t make, doulas are covered by medicaid and private insurance. The obstetric industry has taken notice. And they’re nervous. Their hostility to us - preventing access to our clients, etc hasn’t worked out and clients want access to doulas.
So they are using their medical hierarchy model to try to woo you and control us. They’re looking to train doulas and convince you they are best at this because they’re doctors with expensive degrees and white coats. (If this doesn’t sound familiar to you watch “Granny Midwives”). Are there good doctors who can be part of the solution? Absolutely. By influencing and changing the medical model. By learning from doulas - not trying to control us or putting their medical model on us. They can become a doula friendly hospital. They can be trained by doulas.
BEST has trained OBs, midwives, and nurses as doulas. These healthcare providers get it and are part of the solution.
They don’t want us in their system as we are. Midwives are familiar with this path - hire them and control them. Doulas cannot care for their clients in the same way when employed by the hospital rather than the client. This isn’t to bash hospital based doulas - I am confident that they really want to help and they will help some - but under the thumb of the same force responsible for harm.
Keep your eyes open, Doulas.
Doulas are good at what we do. That’s why we have their attention. Let’s continue to do what Doulas do - our way, trained and mentored by doulas, and looking to work collaboratively with the health care team- not under them.