Maine Doula Workforce Assessment
In early 2023 the Maine Doula Coalition initiated the first Maine Doula Survey to gather information about the doula workforce. Understanding the workforce was essential to identifying cultural and geographic gaps in care and better informing efforts to increase access.
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This project was grant funded by the Maine Health Access Foundation.
The completed report is available here: Download
Overview
​At the state level, Maine recognizes both the inequities that exist in perinatal outcomes and the importance of doula care. Expanded support for doula services is recommended by a growing number of reports in Maine as one approach for improving perinatal health outcomes. A deeper understanding of the demographics, scope, capacity and needs of the Maine doula workforce was needed to inform the path forward to expand doula services. In response to this need, Maine Doula Coalition initiated this project to better understand the landscape of doula work in Maine via a survey and interviews of doulas throughout the state. Our results provide a first look at who Maine doulas are, where we are, who we serve and what types of challenges Maine people face in accessing our services.​ The Maine Doula Survey was entirely doula-led.
The workforce assessment was published in November 2024.
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Watch the Maine Doula Workforce Assessment Webinar (passcode: n5680Q+Z)
Milestones
Early 2023
September- 2023
June - 2024
November - 2024
Maine Doula Coalition receives a Descretionary Grant from the Maine Health Access Foundation.
The Maine Doula Survey is launched.​​
The Maine Doula Survey is officially closed, having gathered information from as much as 85% of the existing doula workforce.
The Maine Doula Worforce Assessment is published.