how doulas helped 9/11 families, then & now

On this day, I wish peace to all the families impacted, whether directly or indirectly, by that day seven yeas ago and still impacted today as our country is at war.
I thought it appropriate to look, if you're interested, at the nine month long (yup - three trimesters) volunteer program that offered free support and service to pregnant women widowed by the attacks. The participating providers studied the physiological and psychological effects of stress. The study was published in The Journal of Perinatal Education Vol. 12, No. 4, 2003

Childbirth Education and Doula Care During Times of Stress, Trauma, and Grieving
Debra Pascali-Bonaro, BEd, CD(DONA)

The organizer (and my friend, mentor & colleague), Debra Pascali-Bonaro, starts by saying,

"Immediately after the events of September 11, 2001, I
was privileged to play a unique role: coordinating a
volunteer program to provide support and service to
pregnant women in the greater New York/New Jersey
area, where I live, who had been widowed by the terrorist
attack. The result was an unprecedented collaborative
effort supported by numerous related agencies and indi-
vidual providers.
Despite the group’s impressively amassed knowledge
and resources, we identified many gaps in our under-
standing of how to address the needs of the widows of
9/11 and, in addition, how to generalize such under-
standing for the needs of other pregnant women in our
area who were experiencing stress, trauma, and grief for
any reason."

Also important to note is Operation Special Delivery, providing volunteer doulas for pregnant women whose husbands or partners have been severely injured or who have lost their lives due to the current war, or who will be deployed at the time they are due to give birth.

A birth attended by a doula where the husband was deployed is above. I originally saw the video here (& just saw her lovely post about today). This baby was born in my hometown, Nashville. I LOVE that this mom thanks her midwives for attending her birth, not delivering her baby!