Has anyone ever considered a doula?

[CKB20]

Hey, interesting in knowing if anyone has considered hiring a doula for their birth/previous birth? I know its becoming a more popular service, but not sure how many black birth workers are working with black clients!

I've definitely considered a doula but l I may just have my mum (a midwife) and my husband. Holding off making final decisions until I start NCT and think in detail about my birthing plan.

I definitely plan on a postnatal doula - I have quite old parents who are not that close by. And I’m an anxious person so I like the idea of extra support. From googling it looks like there are a few black doulas in London. I would like to find a diverse NCT group as well when the time comes (I’m in quite a white bit of the city)

@wannabeamummysobad that's great that your mum is a midwife, I'm sure she'll be able to provide good support with her knowledge birthing in hospitals, are you planning a hospital birth?

@PompomDahlia yes there are lots of amazing black doulas in London! Abuela Doulas by Mars Lord is the first black owned doula training in the UK, so might be worth looking there too. Let me know if you find any diverse NCT groups, would be interested to find out more

Most people in the UK go for maternity nurses for aftercare. It's an industry where black maternity nurses are poorly paid compared to others and they are usually given the jobs most other people have rejected becuase emotional difficulties that come with it including illness, twins and difficult clients.

@debbrianna

Most people in the UK go for maternity nurses for aftercare. It's an industry where black maternity nurses are poorly paid compared to others and they are usually given the jobs most other people have rejected becuase emotional difficulties that come with it including illness, twins and difficult clients.

I'm really sad to hear this. I'm a mom of twins and would love to request a black maternity nanny.

You should hire a maternity nurse or black nanny who specialises in looking after new born or babies. The women I know who do love kids. Most of them choose between looking after babies under six months and those who are happy to stay with the mother until the baby reaches 2yrs old.

The pay gap is really huge. The people I know where being paid £12 maximum £15hr and that's including twins. However, the people I know found out that their white counterparts were being paid between £18-£22 hrs on jobs assigned by agencies. It always came out in conversation with the clients on how cheap they were compared to those the agency offered first to the client.

What also, happened was that they were told to either take it or leave when requested above a certain amount.

@debbrianna

You should hire a maternity nurse or black nanny who specialises in looking after new born or babies. The women I know who do love kids. Most of them choose between looking after babies under six months and those who are happy to stay with the mother until the baby reaches 2yrs old.

The pay gap is really huge. The people I know where being paid £12 maximum £15hr and that's including twins. However, the people I know found out that their white counterparts were being paid between £18-£22 hrs on jobs assigned by agencies. It always came out in conversation with the clients on how cheap they were compared to those the agency offered first to the client.

What also, happened was that they were told to either take it or leave when requested above a certain amount.

That's an outrageous pay gap. I'm not flush enough to afford £22 per hour but could manage 18 just about. I'll give the agency a call and see what I can find. Thank you

Just wanted to post this here.
BabyEm is a company specialising in childcare. The founder and owner is black and a close friend of mine.

Sorry meant to say child antenatal and postnatal care. www.babyem.co.uk/contact-babyem/