Free Doula Training for Qualifying New Yorkers
Free Doula Training For Qualifying New Yorkers
From Passion To Profession: Free Doula Training For Qualifying New Yorkers Passionate About Birth Support To Begin At KCC In May
From Passion to Profession: Free Doula Training for Qualifying New Yorkers Passionate About Birth Support to Begin at KCC in May
Brooklyn, NY – Kingsborough Community College has been awarded $110,000 to begin offering free non-clinical doula training to qualified applicants as part of the Healthcare Career Credentials (HC2) Pilot program, funded by the New York City Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity, Young Men’s Initiative (YMI). The College is partnering with Restore Forward Institute | Black Women’s Blueprint to provide training through its Workforce Development division. The training is part of an effort by New York City and New York State to reduce racial inequities in maternal health and support families in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Doulas are professionally trained birth assistants who provide emotional, physical, and educational support to a mother who is expecting, is experiencing labor, or has recently given birth. Doula support has been shown to improve birth outcomes, with fewer birth complications and lower rates of low birth weight, which are leading causes of infant mortality. People who have doula support are also more likely to breastfeed, less likely to experience postpartum depression, and report greater satisfaction with the birth experience.
Kingsborough’s free 15-hour online doula training program will be offered live via Zoom beginning in May, meeting twice a week for five weeks. Each class is 90 minutes long and includes lectures, hands-on skill development, role-playing, group discussions and activities, and guest speakers. Participants will also be required to take part in three in-person doula shadowing experiences.
To address the inequalities in parental and infant health outcomes among African-American and Hispanic birthing people in NYC, the College will train New York City residents living in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, East New York, Harlem, Jamaica, North Staten Island, or the South Bronx who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color or their allies. Applicants should be interested in providing culturally sensitive pregnancy and childbirth education, early linkage to health care, and other services like labor coaching, breastfeeding support, and parenting education. Space is limited. To see if you qualify for the free training, go to bit.ly/kcc-doula and submit your completed application. Questions about the training can be directed to Alissa.Levine@kbcc.cuny.edu.
“We are thrilled to offer this non-clinical doula training to our community in partnership with the Mayor’s Office and experts in the field who can help to address the disparities, especially for women of color in maternal health,” said KCC President, Dr. Claudia Schrader. “Kingsborough is committed to this work and looks forward to offering more programs in this area.”
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