What Does an Abortion Doula Do?
This blog was originally published on March 5, 2021. We have updated links to reflect our current offerings.
BADT offers enrollment in our Abortion Doula Continued Education Courses, and as we hit one year post-Roe in the US, this course is more relevant than ever.
As a full-spectrum organization, we prioritize creating courses and offerings that contribute to reproductive justice for all. “SisterSong defines Reproductive Justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Access to abortion care is a crucial and foundational part of reproductive justice.
Doula work is community care work, and while trainings and training organizations like ours may be relatively new, this work is not. We honor all of the people who have supported their family members, friends, and community members through abortions (including self-managed abortions) across history and across cultures, and we give credit to the folks who have worked at the policy level to protect bodily autonomy and reproductive rights.
Our Abortion Doula Continued Education courses provide an opportunity for radical, supportive doulas and advocates to learn how to navigate the complex work of abortion support in contemporary times. Our students are folks who are ready to contribute to change in their communities and at the systems level. Through our 6-part prerecorded courses, we explore solutions for the tough questions and obstacles that abortion doulas and our clients face in both the US and Canada.
The Course at a Glance
In both abortion courses, you will have the opportunity to explore what it means to be an abortion doula; together, we’ll unpack misconceptions about this work and clarify the scope of this role. We will consider policy and support you in understanding access in your local area. Additionally, because doulas and clients may be met by anti-abortion rhetoric, policy, and bias, we discuss scenarios and conversations that can arise in this work.
You will gain direct and accurate information about what actually happens during various procedures. You will get a sense of what to expect and how to prepare for being in-clinic or at home with clients. Throughout the six parts, you’ll build a toolbox of support ideas to use in direct-client support– either virtually or IRL.
As an abortion doula, your primary role is to support clients in feeling as comfortable and safe as possible as they navigate abortion healthcare. You co-create space for clients to self-advocate through their reproductive experiences and identify emotional and physical comfort measures they can access throughout their experience. (By the way, check out this guest blog about abortion aftercare by The Abortion Project!)
We consider the logistics of how to offer abortion support and contribute to access in your community. Some doulas join abortion support collectives and others, like many full-spectrum doulas, support folks through their private birthwork practices.
Finally, we address community and self-care for doulas. This work is deeply important, and it can be emotionally and physically taxing, as all companionship work can be. You will consider rituals and practices that will support you in showing up to this work well-resourced, as well as decompressing after offering support to clients.
A Note on the Emotional Support
As an abortion doula, you will provide emotional support to clients. Emotional support is non-clinical and client-centered. In other words, you will not be diagnosing, offering medical labels, or prescribing care. The process of providing emotional support can occur before, during, and after the abortion procedure.
In the fast-paced, stressful, patriarchal, and often biased medical-industrial complex, people often leave appointments with care providers feeling unheard and confused, or even gaslit.
As a doula, your work is to validate and affirm the big (and little) feelings, questions, and concerns clients share with you. The ways you see and hear them are invaluable. Your partnership can support the client in feeling stronger in their ability to advocate for themselves throughout their medical journey.
Some ways you may offer emotional support as an abortion doula include:
Active listening
Breathwork
Conversation
Laughter
Guided meditation and visualization
Affirmation and Validation
Consensual Touch (handholding, hugs, high-fives)
Witnessing and Supportive Presence
Processing before and after abortion
Just being present
Join Us in the Classroom!
Learn more about the class formats and content here. Raven Freeborn, one of the teachers of our US course, talks about how they want an abortion doula on every corner, and we couldn’t agree more! Join us!