Good things come in small packages
It’s true what they say: good things come in small packages. Today’s World Doula Week feature tells the story of a young woman named Hamdi* whose heart and smile are as big as they come despite being under five foot tall! A survivor and a fighter, Hamdi* arrived in Australia in 2010 on a humanitarian visa from Somalia. She fell pregnant at 21 in circumstances that have left her estranged from most of her family & community and it’s been a privilege to see her blossom into a wonderful mum.
Hamdi* began having contractions not long after the new year arrived and she birthed her baby on 5th January — five weeks early. The last three months of her pregnancy were very difficult — she couldn’t eat, she had trouble sleeping and she felt constantly nauseous. She was told by her doctor to expect her baby to come early and, as she exclaims, “it happened!”
She remembers having strong contractions at the hospital and feeling the urge to push but the staff was concerned because her baby’s heart rate had dropped to a dangerously low level and they whisked her into surgery for an emergency C-section.
When asked if she was scared she replied:
“No, not scared. I remember them saying to me that ‘many mums come here, don’t worry, trust us, it’ll be ok’ and my brother, sister-in-law and my doula Elizabeth were there at the hospital with me.”
“His legs are so long, not like mine! My midwife said to me ‘you are so young to have a baby!’ but I said ‘no! I’m a big woman! Maybe because they see me and I’m a bit short, they think I’m too young!” she says in a fit of laughter.
For a woman who felt too unwell throughout much of her pregnancy to attend as many of our young mums education sessions as she would have liked — you’d never know. She’s a total natural.
“Being a mum is amazing. It’s a big experience — my first child — [it’s a] big change. It’s not just hanging out like it used to be before. When I held him for the first time I thought ‘oh, he’s like a doll, don’t drop him, be so careful’.”
Two weeks old when these photos were taken, Hamdi* tells us that “he is a good baby, not crying too much, he likes to sleep.”
Did she know she was having a boy? Not exactly.
“We couldn’t tell if he was a boy on the ultrasound because he crossed his legs every time. My cousin said to me ‘I think you are becoming blacker on your neck — you are having a boy’.”
Apparently in Somali culture if the skin on your neck goes darker during your pregnancy it indicates that you are having a boy and if your skin is brighter you are having a girl!
Her brother, Dalmar*, and his partner Sahra*, have opened their home to support Hamdi* through her pregnancy and in the early months with her new bub. When we visited her not long after the birth, Dalmar* exclaimed:
“He’s here, finally. Isn’t he just beautiful. She was very strong. Very strong young woman. I couldn’t do it!”
Strong she is.
And what about the role of her doula?
Elizabeth, one of our most dedicated volunteer doulas, visited Hamdi* three times before the birth and, as Hamdi* told us with that wry smile of hers — “she gave me a good massage!”
“When I was in pain, she help[ed] me. At first I was like ‘what is that word [doula]?’ but now I know they help mums, be there for them, until they give birth, visit after to see how they are going.”
Like Hamdi*, 33% of our clients at Birth for HumanKIND were born in countries across Africa — predominantly from West Africa and the Horn (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia). Altogether well over half of the women we support are from migrant, refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds with many of them unable to navigate the complexities and nuances of the Australian maternal health care system.
Women from migrant, refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds often do not have access to Medicare and do not access antenatal care until quite late in their pregnancies.
The positive effects of doula care have been found to be greater for women who are socially disadvantaged, have a low income, are unmarried or unpartnered, primiparous (first-time mother), giving birth in a hospital without a companion, or have experienced language/cultural barriers (Vonderheid, Kishi, Norr, & Klima, 2011).
That’s why in our doula support program, we work exclusively with women at high risk of poor maternal health outcomes and experiencing severe social and economic disadvantage.
The women we support are from migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, young women, and women who have histories of mental illness, trauma and abuse. They often have little or no family support, and have to overcome language, cultural and social barriers.
Our team of volunteer doulas, like Elizabeth, are trained in working with women from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and we provide numerous free professional development opportunities for them throughout the year.
Right now our doula support program has reached capacity because there are so many women in and around Melbourne like Hamdi* who need support. Help us raise $12,000 this March to recruit, train and supervise an additional 10 doulas so we can support at least another 25 more women and families in need this year.
This is the third in a 12-part series to celebrate World Doula Week. Donate here to Birth for HumanKIND’s fundraising campaign and put the kindness back into birth culture. For more information on the services we provide and who we support, visit: www.birthforhumankind.org.
If you missed Day 1 or Day 2 catch up here and here.
