By Cate Lecuyer
BEVERLY — It's no secret that not all young pregnant mothers have husbands or boyfriends, or even friends or family, for support.
At Beverly Hospital, the Connecting Young Moms program just received a $2,000 grant to provide these women with a doula — someone trained to provide them with emotional and physical support while they're giving birth.
"It gives them a caring person they can depend on through their labor," said Jodie Berry, co-facilitator of Connecting Young Moms.
The grant was through the Women's Fund of Essex County and the second award of a two-year $5,000 grant.
"It's a program we're really hoping we can get more funding for," Berry said.
It's helped nearly a dozen women a year, usually high-risk girls between 13 and 25 who were referred to the program by a doctor or nurse.
The six doulas, Berry said, are all nationally certified and have other jobs, but for a small stipend they volunteer their services at Connecting Young Moms. They're available to pregnant women 24/7 for 10 days before their due date, and 10 days after, and are there during the entire labor to provide back rubs and encouraging words, help them speak up if they need anything, or even mediate between family members or friends in some situations.
"They devote many hours of their time," Berry said.
She said she'd eventually like to get funding to have one doula on staff full time. The service, she said, is invaluable to many of the new moms and can make the difference between a smooth and a stressful birth.
Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salem news.com.
