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About Us  

The Birth Attendants is a non-profit organization working to restore health and justice into communities in western Washington State.

We have two projects that are our main focus points.
 
The Prison Doula Project provides pregnancy, labor, and post-partum doula services and popular education style childbirth education classes to women incarcerated in Washington State.
 
Our community education projects links our vital work inside prisons to the greater issues surrounding incarceration and works toward creating pathways of knowledge for western Washington communities about incarceration and its effects.

For more information, click on the above links and check out the calendar for specific dates and events!!  

  

What is a Doula?  
A doula is a woman who is knowledgeable about childbirth and assists a woman (and her partner) throughout the entire duration of labor, childbirth, and directly post-partum.
 
Doulas can help the woman (and her partner) create a birth plan, provide continuous support for the entire labor, and assist with comfort measures.
 
Above all, doulas recognize childbirth as a normal and healthy life experience for women, and strive to help make it the most empowering experience possible for everyone involved.
 
Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of having a doula present at a birth. Obstetric researchers Klaus, Kennell and Klaus have shown that having a doula present at a birth can decrease epidural use by 60%, Cesarean birth by 50%, and the length of labor by 25%.
(Klaus, Kennell & Klaus, Mothering the Mother).