I posted yesterday regarding my opinion on the pending NYS Regulation. This Legislation has passed the Senate and Assembly and is waiting on Gov. Cuomo's signature. Despite asking individuals to ALL comment on the Blog post, so an effective conversation could take place, they chose instead to comment on social media posts, and once again to message me privately. I want to thank Rochester Local Doula, Tara Rice for providing me with some information regarding Ancient Song Doula (a link to their open letter - which is shared in today's post) and information regarding "Every Mother Counts" (I haven't had a chance to review their information yet, but that is likely on the agenda for tomorrow's blog post).
If you would like to know more about Ancient Song Doulas here is a link to their website.
This is a copy of their open letter on the pending legislation, and a link to the original letter, in case anyone would like to check that I haven't changed it. This is an attempt to give a fair and balanced view. I have addressed some of the concerns in yesterday's post, but there remain concerns regarding implicit bias, racial barriers, etc. that I am not in qualified to comment on.
An Open Letter on Assembly Bill A364B and Senate Bill S3344B
An Open Letter to Address Assembly Bill A364B and Senate Bill S3344B:
We are writing this letter to address our opposition to the recent passing of Assembly Bill A364B and Senate Bill S3344B. While these bills were created with the intention of expanding doula care and access to marginalized communities, the proposed legislation contradicts these efforts.
Ancient Song Doula Services is a community-based doula organization working to reduce racial disparities and inequities within reproductive healthcare. We have provided approximately over 1200+ of New York City’s parents with personalized, comprehensive, and culturally-relevant care; trained and certified thousands of doulas nationally; demanded justice for Black women and families, and spearheaded the fight against racial disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity since its founding in 2008. Ancient Song is a vital community entity and a leading voice for underserved Black women, pregnant people, women of color, and marginalized communities in New York City. We do this by providing full-spectrum doula services, training & certification, conferences, and educational forums to address maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, implicit bias, and racism within healthcare systems.
Following the passage of these bills, New York will require all doulas to be professionally certified under state guidelines—only those certified may provide doula services. We believe that the state certification process and legislation, as it currently stands, will negatively affect community-based doula organizations of color and communities of color disproportionately. The stated regulatory fee, examination, and assessment of “good moral character” are only some of the requirements that can hinder access to affordable services, especially for African-American and marginalized pregnant people.
We believe this type of legislation will prevent people of color from advancing within doula services and providing care to communities of color. Doulas and midwives of color share a rich American history started by the pregnancy care that enslaved black women provided for their African communities and white slaveholders. On this historic date of Juneteenth, we honor their lessons, experiences, and wisdom that have been passed from generation to generation for continued care and support that we put into practice with our communities of color. This legislation will hinder the independence and freedom of community-based doulas that was fought with their liberation on this auspicious day.
Given the etching this day has placed in the lives of people of African descent in the United States, it is imperative that with the creation of bills we fundamentally look and strive for equity that is not going to further disenfranchise and disproportionately affect people of color within the context of doula work in the United States. Because not only do these decisions affect New Yorkers, they affect us all. We, as doulas, need to be unified in our collective thought process in how we move our doulaship forward with an understanding of how systemic oppression continues to disenfranchise communities of color. As outlined below, our concerns are as follows:
We want to make sure that non-certified doulas can still provide services in New York State if this bill becomes law. It seems that the bill draws a distinction between “certified doula services” and regular doula services, which is good. However, there are a couple of places, noted below, where this could be made more clear.
The bill states that “only a person certified under this section shall be authorized to use the title ‘certified doula.’” The term “certified doula” has been in place for a long time and is used by many different certifying organizations. We don’t believe New York State can lay claim to it and suggest that they use the term “NYS-certified doula” or “New York State certified doula.”
An examination requirement administered by the state is redundant and a potential barrier for community-based doulas. Proof of certification from a credible organization is evidence of a high level of training and preparation for doula work. Instead of an examination requirement, we believe that the focus should be on requiring skills-building for community-based doula work, including in birth/health equity, racism/implicit bias, case management.
The bill states that a requirement for state certification includes being of “good moral character as determined by the department.” We would like to know how “good moral character” will be determined? Is this standard for Medicaid providers? The unknown parameters of this assessment can create a barrier to community-based doula care and support.
New York State will require a fee of $40 to the department for application consideration and certification, which can provide a barrier for community-based doulas. We also need clarity on which doulas would be exempt from taking this examination.
If you would like more information about or to become involved with our work regarding Assembly Bill A364B and Senate Bill S3344B please contact us at policy@ancientsongdoulaservices.com and kennedy@ancientsongdoulaservices.com.
Thank you,
Chanel L. Porchia-Albert
Founder & Executive Director
Ancient Song Doula Services
Cc: Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, Sponsor; Senator Jessica Ramos, Sponsor; Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Galef, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Jaffee, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Rosenthal, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Cook, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Seawright, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Arroyo, Co-Sponsor; Assemblyman Blake, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Dickens, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Pichardo, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Thiele, Co-Sponsor; Assemblywoman Solages, Co-Sponsor; Senator Biaggi, Co-Sponsor; Senator Kaplan, Co-Sponsor; Senator Gaughran, Co-Sponsor; Senator Krueger, Co-Sponsor; Senator Rivera,
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