Black doula training program aims to create diversity in profession

“Systemic racism in the healthcare system has inspired a free course for people of colour interested in training to become a doula.

As a mother and woman of colour, Fantanesh Attomsa says she has seen firsthand racial disparities in Nova Scotia’s health system.

“We are often discriminated against in the health care system,” says Attomsa. “We have a higher mortality rate when it comes to birth, labour and delivery.”

. . .

“The doula work force or volunteer force is incredibly white, and that has implications for people who receive that support,” says Martha Paynter, chair of Wellness Within.

Cultivating that diversity in the doula profession is the motivator behind a free Black doula training program offered by non-profit Wellness Within.

Currently there are more than 50 people on the waiting list.

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Grace Szucs