Birth rates in Sacramento vary by ethnicity. Caucasians are at the lowest, next is African American, then Asian, and finally Hispanic has the highest birth rate.
This is a good opportunity to take a look at how doulas can best serve the populations with the higher birth rates.
These are groups that may be underserved by the medical community at large. They may be more likely to receive unnecessary interventions or poorer outcomes. They may be treated less fairness compared to Caucasians, and there may be cultural or language barriers in some cases.
How can doulas reach out to these populations?
The first step might be making an effort to become more culturally aware. Being mindful of one’s own assumptions or stereotypes can help reduce the tendency to label certain individuals based on their ethnic background. Spending time getting to know people of other ethnicities, and learning a foreign language can both be useful tools in gaining understanding of those that are of different ethnicities.
Outreach can be another way in which doulas can make themselves more available to minority populations in the Sacramento area. The first step would be to find out what would best serve these populations.
Some ideas for outreach include:
- free classes offered at locations where mothers may frequent
- low cost doula care/sliding scale
- community involvement
These are just a few ideas, there is much more that can be done to better serve a variety of populations. What can you think of?