Support Birthing Families with Small Essentials

This time last year I was in Honduras volunteering as a doula when I was unexpectedly laid off from my tech job. It turned out to be exactly the motivation I needed to take my life and career in a new direction that has left me stunned with gratitude and brimming with excitement.

For the last year I have been focused on building a doula services company with the goal of creating sustainable business models that meet the needs of both underpaid birth workers AND underserved birthing populations. Meet Birthingkind.

While I'm working through the bureaucracy required to accept Medicaid payment, much of my work to date has been on a volunteer basis for low income single women birthing alone. I have realized that in addition to the many challenges of our healthcare system, my clients oftentimes face small immediate needs that are otherwise easily solved by people with expendable income. On several occasions I have stepped in to meet these needs out of my own pocket. However, as someone without a steady paycheck myself at the moment, paying for things myself is simply unsustainable.

My goal is to ultimately find reliable funding sources and donations, but setting up a non-profit on top of starting a business just simply isn't possible right now. So, in the meantime, I'm looking to use my birthday as my annual excuse to ask friends and family to show your love with a small contribution to help me more generously support the most vulnerable of my clients.

This year, for my birthday, I'm asking you to help me start a small "petty cash" fund that I can use to support clients at my discretion. Here are some examples of things you might help cover:

No contribution is too small. One of the best parts about my trip to Honduras last summer was being able to carry the generosity - big and small - of so many people along with me. Please join me in this next trip around the sun as I find creative ways to support happier birth days for all.

-Gina