Names should tell the truth about the work they represent.

Mattie Marie Traditional Birth Studies told the truth about where this program began. It grew from years of traditional birth knowledge, hands-on experience, doula education, childbirth teaching, mentoring, and the belief that families deserve support grounded in dignity, autonomy, and informed decision-making.

That history is not being erased.

It is becoming the foundation beneath something larger.

Learn to Doula Village is the next chapter in that work. It reflects not only what we teach, but why we teach it, who we hope to serve, and what it will take to create meaningful change in maternal and infant health.

Why a Village?

Birth has never belonged to one person.

A doula may sit beside a laboring family, but that doula is part of a much larger network. Families rely on healthcare professionals, community resources, educators, advocates, public health workers, birthworkers, policymakers, and one another.

The same is true of systemic change.

It is tempting to tell stories of progress as though one remarkable person stepped forward and changed everything. That is rarely the truth.

No single doula created Arkansas’s Certified Community-Based Doula Certification Act.

No single physician did it.

No single legislator did it.

No single organization did it.

It took a village.

From HB1252 to Act 965

I remember the long days and late nights surrounding Arkansas House Bill 1252.

There were meetings, messages, questions, explanations, disagreements, revisions, and a tremendous amount of persistence. Doulas had to explain what we do, what we do not do, why community-based support matters, and why professional recognition could improve access for families who had historically been left without support.

Healthcare professionals brought their experience.

Community advocates kept maternal and infant health in front of decision-makers.

Legislators carried the bill through the process.

Public health leaders began the work of turning legislation into certification rules and an operating program.

Families and communities provided the reason the work mattered.

HB1252 was introduced during the 2025 Arkansas legislative session and became Act 965, the Certified Community-Based Doula Certification Act.

The law established a state certification pathway for birth and postpartum doulas, defined a scope of practice, required a public registry, addressed confidentiality, and created a path for compensation through Arkansas Medicaid and health benefit plans.

That was a remarkable achievement.

It was also not the finish line.

The Numbers Tell Us Why the Work Must Continue

Arkansas continues to face a maternal-health crisis.

The Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee’s report covering 2018 through 2022 identified 69 pregnancy-related deaths and a pregnancy-related mortality ratio of 38.4 deaths per 100,000 live births. Ninety-four percent of the pregnancy-related deaths reviewed were considered preventable.

Nationally, maternal deaths continue to reveal profound inequities. In 2024, the United States recorded 649 maternal deaths. The maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women remained dramatically higher than the rates reported for most other racial and ethnic groups.

These numbers are not abstractions.

Each one represents a person, a family, and a community permanently changed.

Doulas alone cannot resolve every cause of maternal mortality. We cannot diagnose medical conditions, replace clinical care, or repair an entire healthcare system from the bedside.

But well-trained community-based doulas can be part of the solution.

We can help families understand their options.

We can reinforce urgent warning signs and encourage appropriate care.

We can help clients prepare questions and communicate concerns.

We can connect families with community resources.

We can provide continuity when healthcare systems feel fragmented.

We can support families through pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum recovery, feeding, grief, and adjustment.

We can listen.

We can document responsibly.

We can recognize when something is outside our scope and help a family reach the right professional.

We can help people feel less alone.

Why the Training Had to Evolve

Traditional doula training often focused heavily on labor comfort, birth plans, position changes, and emotional support.

Those skills still matter. They always will.

But the professional environment surrounding doulas has changed.

Today’s community-based doulas may also need to understand:

• Professional scope and ethical boundaries
• Trauma-informed and culturally responsive support
• Community resource navigation
• Maternal and infant warning signs
• Documentation and confidentiality
• Communication with healthcare teams
• Medicaid and insurance systems
• Reimbursement requirements
• Professional credentialing
• Business sustainability
• Bereavement-aware care
• Postpartum continuity
• Referral responsibilities
• The realities of serving rural and underserved communities

Learn to Doula Village must prepare students for the real world in which doulas now practice.

That means preserving the wisdom of Traditional Birth Studies while strengthening the professional, ethical, and community-based preparation students need today.

Honoring Mattie Marie

Mattie Marie Traditional Birth Studies was not a mistake that needs to be scrubbed from our history.

It was a beginning.

It carried the early curriculum, the philosophy, the relationships, the lessons learned, and the students who trusted the program with their education.

Its name may now move into our historical record, but its influence remains present in the work.

We will preserve that history honestly. Older materials and posts may still refer to Mattie Marie. When appropriate, they will be identified as part of the program’s earlier chapter rather than quietly rewritten as though that chapter never existed.

Growth does not require us to deny where we came from.

It asks us to understand what the past prepared us to become.

Arkansas First, With a National Vision

Arkansas is where this next stage begins.

It is where doulas, advocates, healthcare professionals, public officials, and community members worked together to turn HB1252 into Act 965.

It is where the first Learn to Doula Village pathways will be shaped around the practical realities of community-based doula care, state certification, rural access, Medicaid participation, and professional accountability.

But the need is not limited to Arkansas.

Across the United States, families need knowledgeable, ethical, culturally humble, community-rooted doulas. Communities need birthworkers who understand both human connection and professional responsibility.

Our national vision is not to claim that one program can solve maternal mortality.

Our vision is to help build a stronger village.

A village of doulas who are thoroughly prepared.

A village of educators who teach what the work truly requires.

A village of professionals who respect scope, autonomy, evidence, culture, and community knowledge.

A village willing to collaborate instead of competing for ownership of the work.

A village committed to reducing preventable harm and improving maternal and infant outcomes, one family and one community at a time.

Welcome to Learn to Doula Village

This website, curriculum, and training system are now being carefully rebuilt to support that vision.

We are reviewing the technology beneath the program.

We are evaluating every course.

We are strengthening certification requirements, ethics, practice standards, student support, and professional preparation.

We are preserving what remains valuable.

We are correcting what no longer serves students or communities.

We are building slowly enough to build responsibly.

Because it took a village to bring community-based doula certification into Arkansas law.

It will take a village to turn that opportunity into lasting change.

Welcome to Learn to Doula Village.

The next chapter has begun.