Theresa Lasbrey Peters is a birth and postpartum doula and a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) through the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice (ALPP)). She spoke with the Amsterdam News for a Q&A about being a doula, her work in postpartum support, and empowering individuals going through the birthing process to improve Black maternal health outcomes. She also works with the Citywide Doula Initiative which provides free access to home visitors and doula support for birthing people as well as parenting families. Currently these services are particularly focused on areas impacted by COVID-19. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
AMNews: Could you tell our readers what it is like to be a doula?
Theresa Lasbrey Peters (TLP): A doula provides comfort measures during birth. We do not make decisions for you; we provide comfort, ease, and resources before, during, and after giving birth. Our presence during birth actually reduces people’s experience of pain, according to studies, so having a doula at your birth can have an important impact in a very good way. I provide as much or as little information as my clients would like during their birth journeys. I help them feel empowered about their decision-making. I actually give them a decision-making matrix where they feel empowered to make choices, especially when they’re going through the birthing process.
AmNews: Where do you work?
TLP: New York City and parts of the Lower Hudson Valley. I am part of the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership and we work with the Citywide Doula Initiative to provide services to people who are income-eligible for Medicaid or have Medicaid. We provide [services] for people who normally wouldn’t be able to afford our services. I also work as a birth and postpartum doula for private clients and as a lactation counselor all over the city.
A lot of doulas are serving Brooklyn already, so [we need to continue] to go to the places where we are not as present. My passion right now is extending access to lactation support and success. People don’t really understand how life-changing it is, but I’m very clear that breastfeeding saves lives — not just babies’ lives, but breastfeeding actually saves the lives of the people that are breastfeeding; it reduces your chances of breast cancer and other
reproductive cancers. Have the babies in a wonderful, holistic, natural way and then please breastfeed with your body if you can, because it’ll save your life — not just the baby’s, your life.
AmNews: Could you talk about all the services you provide as a doula once the baby is born?
TLP: It’s extremely important to think about the postpartum experience because people
really prepare for that big day. Getting ready to have this baby, you do a whole birth plan, you do all this stuff, and you have the baby — and then you’re left here. The postpartum aspect is the most intense and literally the forever aspect of birth, of parenting. What we do as dDoulas is help with lactation. Right after the birth, we help; during the golden hour, we help to latch and then when we come to your home after, we help you continue to feed because feeding is such a big deal — feeding yourself, feeding your baby, helping with light chores around the house, ensuring that [you are] creating healthy sleeping habits for yourself and the baby. Adults need to adjust to what is now normal, which is polyphasic sleep: sleeping in two- and three-hour [shifts] if you’re lucky, as opposed to sleeping a whole six to eight hours. We help with feeding, managing family, looking at providing resources [and information] around vaccinations. We support the partner because partners are also susceptible to postpartum depression and anxiety, and people don’t talk about that.
AmNews: What is one thing that we have not spoken about yet that you think is something people don’t know about doulas?
TLP: As a doula, I am a person who is there solely to support whoever shows up in that birthing room. I support my clients, I support their partners, I support their families. I support the nurses who show up in the room, I support the doctors. I am there literally to just be of service. That’s what I get my life from — I’m here to uphold people’s choices and remind them of their choices and then affirm their choices. If their choices change, we provide all types of support for anybody who is open to it and wants it. We provide space and we do whatever we need to do for the process and ensure that people are empowered and harm is mitigated. I’m grateful to be this little tiny part [at the] beginning of people’s lives as parents. We’re not here to judge people in the room. We’re here to hold space and make it work for everyone.
AmNews: Is there anything else you’d like to let our readers know about your work?
TLP: This is the work of my life. I think that everyone can give birth in a way that is beautiful for them, that leaves them feeling accomplished.
A previous version of this article misspelled Theresa Lasbrey Peters‘ first name. We regret the error.