Community Doula program

Doulas are trained to provide continuous, one-on-one care, information, physical and emotional support to birthing people and their partners. Our project has been designed as a pilot program to provide free doula care to pregnant people who wouldn't otherwise be able to access this support. Research shows that having a doula present during labour can reduce the average length of labour and the risk of unnecessary intervention, improve birth satisfaction and decrease the chance of postpartum anxiety. The benefit of this funding and success of our project will act as a blueprint to be rolled out in communities across Victoria.

Our vision is to provide free access to doulas to birthing people in the City of Maribyrnong and throughout Victoria regardless of socioeconomic circumstances. We want every birthing person to have access to the support they need during pregnancy, birth and postpartum to make empowered choices which leads to positive birth experiences and cultivates healthy families within our growing community. We will also be creating a series of free support workshops for parents in the community.

We believe in integrity, respect, connection, education and compassion. These are values that we believe should be intrinsic in all communities, especially our own.