We have BIG NEWS for 2021!😍
As we say goodbye to one of the hardest years we've known,
let's look back to know where we are going.
(psst! We have BIG NEWS!)
A letter from Emily
Our word for the year was INVEST. And invest we did. Though it looked differently than I imagined at the start of the year.
With the pandemic beginning in March, our birth work came to a near grinding halt even though babies did not stop being born, as all the area hospitals limited the number of support people in L&D to +1. Families who planned for postpartum doula support made decisions of who to include in their stay-at-home bubble.
During the stay-at-home orders in the spring, we quickly pivoted to Virtual Labor Doula Packages. Into 2021 we continue to offer in person packages with flexibility for our clients to transfer to virtual support all the way until the day they go into the hospital.
Also in March we celebrated World Doula Week. In spite of the financial uncertainty of the company, we kept our commitment to invest $1200 in scholarships for professional development for birth workers!
As the summer brought our nation face-to-face with the injustice experienced by Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and historically/systemically all Black and Brown people, DCH and our sister agency DPG, began jointly holding monthly Anti-racism Town Hall conversations.
From July to December our team:
Participated in monthly Zoom Anti-Racism Town Hall meetings, with a professional moderator, to explore how we could do more to grow in understanding the way that racism can impact the pregnancy, birth, feeding choices, and postpartum experiences of Black and Brown birthing people.
We invested in a professional Equity and Inclusion consultant to audit our internal systems to continue building an anti-racist and inclusive company from the inside out.
We invested in our team members spiritual and mental health by bringing in mindfulness-based trainers, to build resilience skills and to bring yoga-based meditation and movement practices in an effort to holistically care for our team members given the difficulty of the times.
We read books like So You Want to Talk About Race and Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty,
Listened to podcasts such as The Good Ancestor podcast with Kimberly Seals Allers, Birth Without Bias and How to be Anti-Racist with Ibram X. Kendi and Brené Brown,
We made Juneteeth a paid holiday for our postpartum doulas,
We sponsored a Black Breastfeeding/Chestfeeding photo shoot with the Melanin Bump and did a Black Breastfeeding Week portrait giveaway,
We shared these resources , these other resources, more resources, and Black-owned businesses on social media and here on our website,
We made improvements to our client forms and resource-guides, and
We made the difficult decision to fire two people from the team, as well as say 'no' to a client who publicly supported white supremacy
so that we would continue to become more fully who we have always been: a company that believes Black Lives Do Matter and racism, bigotry, or hate will not be tolerated or ignored.
If white people have listened, learned or woken up to anything in 2020, let it be that the work of unlearning racism is a life-long journey. I love this quote from Check Your Privilege on Instagram:
DCH and DPG have always been companies in which our values of Inclusivity, Equity, and Anti-racism have been made known to our clients and our community. In 2017 we shared our Statement of Beliefs and Inclusivity and added it to every page of our websites. Now, in 2020, as we asked ourselves, "How have I been navigating the world differently since witnessing the murder of George Floyd?" and "What does it mean to me to be anti-racist?" I knew that my personal answer was, to make changes in the places I personally hold power, which are in my businesses, in my relationships, and in my own family/home.
In economics, to divest is the reduction of some kind of asset and is the opposite of invest. As a cis-gendered white woman, this year has brought clarity to me of my responsibility as a business owner, team leader, and a birth worker, to divest and create a more equitable, inclusive, and just world.
In this spirit, I am elated to announce that starting January 1, 2021, Jacquelin Knighton is the new 50% owner of Doulas of Capitol Hill, and is the 51% owner of our sister agency, Doulas of Prince George's County!!
Jacquelin's has been an amazing business partner to me since we co-launched DPG in 2018, and has been a dedicated birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, placenta encapsulator and 5 Star Mentor on the DCH team since 2017. To the leadership team of DCH she brings all the qualities you would expect from a great leader: self-confidence and compassion, conviction and perseverance, living and standing in her values, and communication for accountability!
In January of 2020, before the pandemic and before our national social justice reckoning, the DCH team was asked to write what they most wanted to invest in this year. A majority of the answers were phrases such as "keep fighting for social justice in the birth and parenting world" "reproductive justice" "more diversity + accessibility for clients" "more access to underserved populations" "support Black women!" and "doula awareness to POC." Clearly, our INVESTING is manifesting!
With that I leave you with our words for 2021! As DCH turns FIVE YEARS OLD in February, we decided it's time to focus on our ABC's: Accountability, Boundaries, and Connection. With these words in mind we have 12 months of amazing topics for Our 3 Guiding Principles: Supporting Families, Building Community, and Growing the Profession!
Warmly,
Emily L. Smith
she/her
Emily-favorites-0004.jpg
A note from Jacquelin
Today I proudly announce my joining as part ownership of Doulas of Capitol Hill. When Emily asked me to join her at DCH, I took some time to consider the offer and if it was the right move for me, my family and DPG. Since we opened Doulas of PG County, it has gotten my full attention and it has become a beautiful thriving company that I am so proud of. Having Emily as a business partner has taught me so much and has really helped us grow DPG into an agency we are honored to have created. As I join DCH as an owner, I hope to help the company with growth in cultural competence, anti-racism and help strengthen its moral beliefs with providing competent support to all birthing persons. I feel lucky to be a part of the already great team of doulas at DCH and look forward to a prosperous New Year.
DCH Top 9
Remembering RBG
A surrogacy birth- from @ohheytess
Normalizing pregnancy and infant loss with Chrissy Teigen
Supporting trans birth- art by @wyld.magick
This is not an April Fools joke
New Years resolutions with @leialauren
Valentine’s Day with @lauraiz
Supporting Black business- dolls by @harperimandolls
WE WON! Art by @sophieandlili
Happy New Year from all of us at Doulas of Capitol Hill!