Today we’d like to introduce you to Eboni Hooper-Boateng
Eboni, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I genuinely believe Birth Work found me. I’ve always been the friend going to the hospital with my friends in labor before I even knew the word “doula” existed. In school, I loved Biology so once upon a time I aspired to be a medical doctor. My love for the study of life continued into college where I majored in Biology with a minor in Sociology. The combination of the two made me delve deep into public health disparities and social inequities.
After graduating in 2013- from the Xavier University of Louisiana (HBCU PROUD)- I joined the United States Peace Corps, serving 2.5 years in Ghana, West Africa. While my main job was as a high school biology teacher my love for supporting girls and families blossomed. I started a girls’ club where we dived into reproductive health and I quickly found myself being the safe space for students to come to. From there I spent several years providing reproductive health services such as sex education, family planning, HIV/STI testing, and counseling, to men and women in St. Louis, MO, and Ghana, West Africa.
Oh, and while I was there I met and married my now husband lol. So flash forward to 2017 and we are pregnant! I’d always envisioned having a natural birth with a midwife so we decided to do just that at a local birth center. Little did I know, that decision would lead me to have a very different experience than my peers. So what began as me sharing my birth story, and talking to people about their options and birth rights, childbirth education etc. eventually led me to take my first doula training. It was 12 weeks and I did it while out on maternity leave so not only did I give birth to our child but also Birthing You Doula Services! Which truly is intended to reflect the birth of not just your baby but YOU.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Honestly, till this day I am amazed at how quickly my doula business has taken off. I see it as confirmation that I’m operating in my passion and what I’m supposed to be doing. That being said the challenges for me are things I think people outside of birth work may never think about. There’s this façade that society has of birth work being this happy-go-lucky role full of the joys of childbirth and parenthood. While this is true, it’s only one side of the spectrum. This work is very emotional and the unfortunate reality is every journey doesn’t go the way we hoped. I go to baby showers but I also go to memorials and funerals. To me, the hardest thing I’ll ever do as a doula is hold a grieving mother in my arms. Miscarriage, stillbirth and so much more, I support my families through it all. Even things that we never thought we may go through together I’ve been there…depression, divorce, domestic violence, sickness, co-parenting, loss….You see as a doula I’m here to support you and to do that holistically often leads to some deep conversations about what is going on in your life. And then guess what, I have to find a way to process my emotions so I show up the way I’m needed for each client. One moment I could be leaving the hospital with a grieving family who just loss their baby and another client may call me excited because they just had their gender reveal. It’s a lot but I give my all to my clients because they deserve nothing but the best no matter what is going on in mine.
Then there is the personal side of things. It’s a lifestyle for sure- to be a birth worker. The on-call life is not for everyone. I have to plan trips so far in advance and when invited to things it’s always with a “unless I’m at a birth-I’ll be there” clause. I often say I leave my family to go support another. As a mother, I miss being away from my children (6, 4, and 1 year old) and my husband- he’s the best, I could not do this without him. And yes- we have a one-year old. So at one point in time I was a pregnant doula, breastfeeding doula, taking breaks at births to go pump. Oh man, my first trimester was rougggggh. My clients don’t know this but there were several times I had to step out to go throw up because I was so nauseated while pregnant. Then towards the end of the pregnancy, I was asking the nurse to bring a birth ball for me and my client- hahaha.
It is not easy but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love being a doula.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I am a full spectrum doula- long story short I am like the maid of honor, bff, and coach but for your journey to parenthood. I’m not a midwife or OBGYN so no, I’m not delivering babies or providing medical care but I am a support person along the way. I provide knowledge to prepare families for labor and support them physically and emotionally, before, during, and after birth. I’m also a childbirth educator and certified lactation consultant so that means I teach childbirth classes so people not only know what to expect but also know about their birth rights to advocate for themselves and their loved ones and provide breastfeeding support.
There are many types of doulas so we can provide support across the full reproductive spectrum. As a full spectrum doula, I have the skill set to support people from pre-conception through postpartum. However, my sweet spot is pregnancy and birth doula support. I attend births in all settings but I love me some birth center and home births. Unmedicated births are my sweet spot but I support epidural births too. I pride myself on bringing traditional knowledge into my doula support. So all the things I learned while living in Ghana about postpartum support I incorporate into my care if families desire it. So the belly binding, the suggested foods for internal healing, herbal teas etc.
No two doulas doula the same so what sets me apart is that I’m me! My personality and skill set makes the Birthing You experience all that it is. A journey in which a new you will be born as well.
I realized early on that I can not be everyone’s doula for a variety of reasons so in community I began to do more on the systems and public health side of improving maternal and infant health outcomes in our region. This has led me to be known more in our region as a maternal health advocate and doula. I’m a member of the Missouri MOMNIBUS- a collective of black advocates across the state committed to advocating and passing legislative policies at the start level to improve outcomes for black birthing people and our babies. I’ve been to Jefferson City and worked on bills with elected officials, sat at tables discussing solutions with local hospital systems, and more because doula work is very much so one family, one experience at a time but it is the policies, legislation, and culture shift of the medical industrial complex that’s needed to see change on a macro level.
Currently, doula support is not mandated to be covered by insurance companies. As beneficial as the support of a doula has been proven to be many are left without access because they can not pay out of pocket. Due to that, I began the Ruth Wilson Birth Fund in honor of my late Grandmother a labor and delivery nurse to ensure I can offer low-cost doula services to BIPOC communities in need within the St. Louis Region. I am very proud of this community fund because contributions come from people all over who despite what their professional or lived experiences are they see the value in equal access to doula support.
The birth fund has been recognized locally and nationally! In 2021 Generate Health presented me with the Judy Wilson Griffin Maternal Health Equity Champion Award during their Annual Saving Black Moms and Babies Award Ceremony. Then in 2023, the US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recognized me as one of the USA’s Community Change Makers. To this day I still get chills whenever I think about it because wow- that’s the Federal Government knowing about my work in the community!
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
To anyone thinking of becoming a doula or new to the profession I’d say don’t be afraid to grow on the business side first. I took my first doula training in 2018 but it wasn’t until 2020 I formally began my business and started serving families. So what do you do when you don’t have clients just yet? Work on your brand! It is one thing to be a good doula, its another to be a great entrepreneur. Don’t be afraid to work on marketing, getting your intake forms, contracts, and internal processes together. Sharpen those consultation interview skills up, learn more about your craft, local resources, and hospital systems so that when you are ready and have your first client their customer experience is smooth. Those things matter and trust me it’s a lot easier to work on those things when you aren’t actively serving people at the same time.
Also invest in yourself! You don’t need to bring much to a birth other than yourself. So don’t go down the rabbit hole of buying all the things to put in your doula bag. Start with the essentials and as you make money reinvest that to pay for additional trainings, tools, headshots etc. You got this! Just like you pour into your families to feel confident about their journey you too have to have that same confidence about yourself.
Pricing:
- My doula services range from $900-$1,500
- My private Childbirth Education Course is $300
- My 1 day Breastfeeding Class $75
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.birthingyoudoula.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birthing_you
