The acronym BIPOC stands for “Black, Indigenous, and other People Of Color.” BIPOC Doulas serve BIPOC communities, and usually work as Community-Based Doulas supporting people who are historically excluded, structurally marginalized, underprivileged, and/or underserved.
BIPOC Doulas can be any type of Doula, such as a Birth Doula, Full-Spectrum Doula, Geriatric Doula, Mental health Doula, or Adoption Doula, and so on. The term BIPOC Doula is basically only used because of the fact that these types of Doulas predominantly serve BIPOC communities.
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Nevertheless, within the spectrum of BIPOC Doulas, you’ll also find specialized Black Doulas (serving black communities), Indigenous Doulas (serving Indigenous communities), Latino Doulas (serving Latino communities), and Asian Doulas (serving Asian communities).
Members of BIPOC communities disproportionally experience discrimination, prejudice, and racism by healthcare professionals and institutions, and BIPOC Doulas help them to navigate these challenges by providing culturally congruent informational, educational, emotional, practical, logistical, physical, and very important — empowerment and advocacy support throughout their clients’ contact with a rather “hostile” environment.
Moreover, due to the problems mentioned in the previous paragraph, BIPOC communities experience much more than average numbers of maternal and infant death instances and other health issues as a result of pregnancy, labor, or delivery complications.
Hence, BIPOC Doulas that serve people on their reproductive journey focus strongly at improving infant and maternal health outcomes by trying to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare provider settings.
