Chantel Runnels, a doula who operates across the Inland Empire, described being a doula as being a concierge, attending to clients at any time and providing support without notice. While some doulas will take on about two to three birthing clients a year, keeping in mind the 9-month timeline and juggling other part-time work, Runnels takes on two to three clients a month.
“Last year, I had 21 births, and one was a set of twins, so I guess it’s 22 babies,” Runnels explained.
The number of clients a doula supports depends on the doula and their capacity. Runnels shared that the average doula may have less than 10 births a year, in part due to compensation and how demanding it can be to care for a birthing person and their family.
“In one week alone, we could be spending over 40 hours just caring for a client, in addition to whatever else is going on in our life, and so it can be very labor intensive,” Runnels said.
Runnels supports a variety of clients in the Inland Empire, including those who pay for her services out-of-pocket and those who receive free services through community-based programs like the Sankofa Birthworkers Collective which is supported by state-wide organizations like the California Black Women’s Health Project, a nonprofit organization that encourages women to be “active participants in improving their health status.”
The California Black Women’s Health Project works in partnership with the Sankofa Birthworkers Collective to fund doula programs and host birthworker events and educational forums.
The support provided by Runnels and doulas everywhere is highly valued, proven effective and according to many, grossly undercompensated.
Expanding doula compensation, coverage and support
Dr. Sayida Peprah-Wilson is a licensed clinical psychologist and birth doula with a specialty in multicultural psychology, trauma, suicide prevention and maternal mental health. She is one of the founding members of the Sankofa Birthworkers Collective and belongs to the doula stakeholder group involved in establishing doula services as a Medi-Cal benefit.