Y'all may have heard of male doulas before, and you might even have strong opinions about it. But watch this interview with Jason Ayala and see what you think afterward. Men may get into birth work a variety of reasons and most of the time it's noble and maybe we should reserve the assumption of motives till we really get to know each man as an individual - because you're right - some men do get into this work with nefarious intentions.
I've taught men who were writing books. I've taught husbands who wanted to be better birth companions for their partners, and I've had students who were already nurses in maternity care and wanted to have more skills to care for their patients. And I've had men who truly and genuinely want to support birthing families who just feel more comfortable with a male doula.
Birth support preferences of the person doing the birthing are unique and none are wrong. We cannot assume anything. Our job is to improve outcomes. Giving birthing people what they want is paramount to that and we cannot/should not limit their options. That is how we got into this mess in the first place.
Meet Jason Ayala and join us in thanking him for his sincere desire to support and improve birth outcomes.
Final Word:
Don't write off every guy who is interested in birth work.
However, to balance that, unfortunately you are right to be suspicious!
So, be careful out there and don't just believe anyone saying anything, because there is in fact, a certain person who continues to claim he's a certified doula, spread lies about his involvement in the birth world and even continues to twist the truth about how he sued 40+ women for telling the truth about him, which he called defamation and tried to shut them up and punish them by suing for millions (and lost the vast majority of those cases - and well, he should have lost all, because TRUTH IS THE ULTIMATE DEFENSE and every person was telling the truth, by the way - look it up, we talk all about it in a previous blog post)
If you're looking into getting certified, please take a look at our programs and enroll in the courses that speak to you. :)
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