TUCSON, ARIZ. (KGUN) — Support Birth is a nonprofit that aims to improve birthing outcomes in Arizona. They provide free education classes on many topics such as:
- Postpartum Prep & Planning
- Birth Basics
- Pain Relief Balance
- Mind & Body Balance
Arizona Department of Health Services released a report about Maternal Mortality in Arizona from 2018-2019. It found that about 71 pregnant or birthing persons died within one year of pregnancy each year, 87% per year were preventable on average.
“Obviously as a first-time mom it's scary, birth is scary. So, it was nice to have that support," Bailee Eller explains, "I of course have family and my partner but I feel like it wouldn’t have been as confident of an experience.”
Eller gave birth to her first child six months ago and utilized the doula services that Support Birth offers.
National Institutes of Health reports that "the emotional support provided by doulas was seen to reduce anxiety and stress" and "formal doula support throughout the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods of pregnancy can increase the probability of positive labor outcomes."
Chrissi Engstrom, Director of Marketing for Support Birth, says "sometimes, people are just supporting families on a volunteer basis and they're not getting paid. Sometimes, if clients can afford it, they can choose on a sliding-scale what they can afford and that's what the doula is getting paid based on."
"Birth is beautiful, and intimate, and vulnerable... but then there is this whole other side to it, in our maternal healthcare system, but we can improve the outcomes. We know that most of the deaths are preventable so we have to take actions to get there," Engstrom said.
Kinzie Hotchkiss utilized the duola services at Support Birth for her second pregnancy and has attended several of the classes focusing on movement.
“Having a doula reminded me to trust my body and how I'm feeling. I mean, that was invaluable,” Hotchkiss said.
Doula services can be free if the mother was going to give birth alone, or has a history of substance or trauma abuse.
A mother can get a volunteer doula if their provider refers it to them.
Engstrom explains that the organization works with Midwives and OBGYN's to help people qualify for free doula services.
