Catholic Doulas Help Mothers in Need Say ‘Yes’ to Life
For Marisol Dela Cruz, serving a mother in need began with having tea.
In this case, the mother was a pregnant refugee from Myanmar, completely unfamiliar with birthing culture in the United States. Dela Cruz, a Catholic and onetime aspiring OB-GYN, was a volunteer doula at the University of North Carolina Medical Center. The two connected, and with the help of a translator, began forming a relationship as the baby’s due date approached.
“I can’t even tell you how many hours we spent together in her home,” said Dela Cruz, who is now in the midst of relocating to Illinois. “We shared tea together; she shared with me her personal experiences as a refugee; we gained trust.”
In turn, Dela Cruz took the expectant mother on a hospital tour, teaching her medical terms and the types of medications she might be offered, and prepared her for an American birth experience. The education went both ways, with Dela Cruz pouring over research about Myanmar culture in order to give respectful, culturally competent care.
Most of all, Dela Cruz wanted the mother to “know she has the ability to say ‘No’ or ‘Yes’ to all those options.” Knowing what an epidural was, or having a game plan for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section), was a way of empowering her and affirming her dignity, “especially as someone who’s experienced so much trauma, [when] all these things have happened to you.”
And when labor began, Dela Cruz was present, supporting the mother through a positive, successful VBAC delivery.
Helping Mothers Say ‘Yes’
Safeguarding women’s dignity, advocating for mothers and babies, and offering physical and emotional support through the grueling process of labor and delivery are all standard values for doulas, making the field a natural fit for Catholics comfortable with the world of childbirth and passionate about living out their pro-life convictions. It’s an intimate role that walks with mothers as a companion, not a clinician.
And for some, like Dela Cruz, the call to serve draws them to vulnerable mothers and babies on the thinnest of margins: incarcerated women, teen moms, refugees, families in poverty, women with trauma or other underlying issues that make them more susceptible to birth complications, and more.
