Delivering Results: Decreasing trauma and harm in

At Harrod Doula Services we aim to bring education and support to pregnant families in order to lower trauma and unnecessary emergencies. Birth should be a safer life event and education and support are two big pieces that contribute to getting us there.

Birth education in the US is historically minimal. We have a system that relies on patients coming into a labor and delivery unit and just going along with the provider's instructions. The problem with that approach is layered. Firstly, the time spent in labor is still primarily at home in most US hospital systems because there is not space in Labor and Delivery wards to have everyone there from early labor onward. That means a large chunk of labor is assumed to be done without the guidance or presence of your medical team. 

Secondly, there are many situations in birth that can cause unnecessary harm or trauma if they are not thoroughly understood. Birth itself is a new experience for many individuals and the whole-body nature of it can be quite physically and emotionally overwhelming. As things are playing out there are ample opportunities to worry that something is wrong, or not going as hoped. Education goes a very long way to mitigate this because a family walks into the birth experience with a wider scope of what’s normal and therefore lowered anxiety from the onset. 

There is research centered on lowering harm and trauma in birth that has found that both continuous support (from someone like a Birth Doula) and quality prenatal education can significantly reduce prevalence of postpartum mental health conditions as well as lasting harm or trauma into a parent’s future. 

At Harrod Doula Services we are meeting that need in two main ways: 

1. By providing thorough, inclusive birth preparation for families regardless of birth desires (medicated, unmedicated, etc.) we use illustrations and pronouns that are inclusive of a wide range of gender and family make-up in order to make that education more relevant to the most vulnerable populations.

2. By mentoring Doulas in order to provide better comprehensive support to families so they have that moment-by-moment birth support to help navigate unexpected birth situations. 

The market size is large because babies are being conceived every day! We are currently reaching between 100-200 families a year and with this funding could increase that to 500+ families along with increasing our doula mentoring to include 50+ doulas mentored in a comprehensive way each year. While we are a thriving business already, this funding will allow us to expand our reach in marketing in order to bring these services to a wider audience which will in turn make birth safer on a faster trajectory. 

The team is currently just me, Kaely Harrod, but my goal in this funding is to be able to bring on an assistant as well as marketing specialist in order to aid this expansion.

I so appreciate you taking the time to read about this initiative and for funding us! The good that you are bringing to birthing families everywhere is exponential.