A baby is born by miscarriage literally every minute, and a baby is born by stillbirth almost as often, each day, every day. It is happening, right now.
Our SBD Doulas trail blaze the enormous work of entering into the spaces of darkness where birth & bereavement meet, providing support to families during pregnancy, during birth, and during the journey afterward.
Many of our doulas don’t have a 501(c)3 status, they are simply passionate about providing support to families during an impossible time. They serve in difficult circumstances, giving greatly of their time, compassion and service to bring awareness, education and support to their communities. They are instrumental in bringing change into hospitals, legal systems and social networks. They bring love tirelessly because families need it. Our doulas are worthy of practical, financial support; Dollars for Doulas opens a token way to do that.
The cost to support just one family as a doula often realistically includes the following:
- comprehensive certification training – you can become a SBD Student Sponsor as well!
- birth doula equipment, including massage tools and other supplies for pregnancy, labor and early postpartum
- bereavement doula supplies
- record keeping supplies
- transportation to meet clients
- childcare for her own children (approximately 2-3 visits with each family)
- business needs including insurance
- the dedication to remain on-call which means sacrificing family vacations, working elsewhere and other events
- some of our doulas work in physically and/or spiritually dangerous locations, risking their lives to bring comfort to families entrapped in a system that inhibits their healthy bereavement
- our doulas provide birth support for live birth, NICU, adoption, and perinatal death
- our doulas support the Welcoming of all births, including establishing keepsakes and providing lactation support
- our doulas support the Farewell and Healing Journey, including bridging resources to make a smooth transition for the families we serve
- and through our Principles of Service, our SBD doulas provide these services as affordably as possible for clients, including free
Dollars for Doulas Grant
Dollars for Doulas offers an opportunity for one SBD Doula to receive a $100 service grant, to be determined each October 15.
SBD Doulas, to enter your Dollars for Doulas entry:
- Join our Dollars for Doulas current year group. {Here is Dollars for Doulas 2016}
- Post your entry into the group before October 1.
Your posting entry should include:
- Your SBD graduate profile link.
- Up to 3, three sentence paragraphs, sharing your love of being an SBD doula and the work you’ve done so far.
- A servant’s heart (omitting all client data).
You can enter two entries for yourself in each year. Preference is considered for those who nominate another SBD doula as well. Entries can be received at any time during the year, and must be submitted before October 1. Announcement of name selection will be made in our global community each October 15.
