We would love to talk with you about your interest in starting a college doula project at your school! Feel free to reach out to us at doulaproject@wesleyan.edu. Below are some things to keep in mind when implementing the college doula project model, and tips we’ve learned along the way...
A strong clinic partnership can be the foundation of a doula project.
What abortion clinics, birth centers, and hospitals are near your school? For security reasons, it can be difficult to find out details about abortion services or contact information for staff at abortion clinics. Try reaching out to your campus health services and asking them what medical services they know about and if they have any connection to or contact information of people who work there. In setting up a relationship with a provider, make sure that you determine a clear outline of the expectations of the partnership to ensure that your work will fill a role that is satisfactory to both of you.
Take logistics into consideration.
Geography and transportation play a critical role in the success of a doula project. How are volunteers going to get to a clinic? How far will they have to travel? Do enough interested students have cars? Is there any school-provided transportation that can be put to use, or school funds that can reimburse students for gas? It’s also important to be strategic about your commitments to clinic parters – start small and build up so you are always able to meet the commitments you make to clinics. This will probably mean focusing on one type of doula care first, before considering expanding over time.
Work with the administration and leverage potential allies.
Every school has a different system for running programming that supports community engagement and providing student initiatives with funding. Some things to look out for: are there administrative offices with mission statements that prioritize student-run community volunteer work? Are there specific staff or faculty members who can give you good advice or connect you to student workspaces, funding, transportation services, etc.? Many student activity funds or academic departments will contribute to the individual cost of doula training, travel, registration fees for conferences, stipends for summer internships, and even educational materials for your student group – it never hurts to ask! What kind of administrative support will best allow you to maintain the project’s autonomy and student leadership as your project develops?
Look for support and inspiration from other student organizations.
Are there other student organizations on campus that you could work with or learn from? Coordinators of other health organizations on campus will probably have a lot to share, but also look into groups whose focus is different but whose model may be similar – consider groups that coordinate students working in the community, whether through tutoring, mentoring, food service, etc. Building strong partnerships with other student groups and leaders can also be helpful for navigating funding policies, co-sponsoring speakers or events, and getting moral support.
Take active steps to gauge interest and recruit members.
Building a thoughtful conversation and community around these issues on campus is just as important as building a relationship with a clinic. Not many people have heard of full-spectrum doula projects and even fewer realize that they can exist on college campuses. How you explain the work of a doula and recruit your first members will set the tone of your group! One successful tactic is to hold events related to reproductive health and doula work on campus – show a movie, bring a speaker, or facilitate a coffee chat about current events in abortion access or birth politics. Pitch your project at the end of the event and have a sign-up for people who are interested in joining. You can also take a more direct approach and hold an informal info or planning session for your project, which can be a great time for people to ask questions or brainstorm together.
Reach out personally to other projects and prospective trainers.
Reach out to other organizations in the Full Spectrum Reproductive Support Network (like us!) – each of these groups has navigated the challenges of training doulas, negotiating clinic relationships, and creating sustainable volunteer organizations. Until you have your own experienced doulas and campus-specific training curriculum, consider partnering with other full-spectrum doula organizations to bring trainings to your campus.
Continue to look for resources off-campus.
Check out conferences on reproductive issues in your area, and bring as many interested students as you can! The Civil Liberties and Public Policy Conference at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts and Take Root: Red State Perspectives on Reproductive Justice at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, are both amazing opportunities for learning and relationship-building. Colleges will often fund students to go to academic conferences – definitely worth looking into.
Have more questions or ideas? Email us at doulaproject@wesleyan.edu
We would love to talk to you more about your process.