Rikers Island Doula Program Is Helping To Give Incarcerated Mothers A Voice, ‘I’m Actually Being Heard’

Inside Rikers Island doula program and how it's supporting vulnerable women in need.

Four years after NYC Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal pushed for doula care in jails, the Rikers Island Doula Program is in full effect, giving pregnant inmates support and a voice behind bars.

“This program makes me feel like I have more of a voice with my last two kids,” Grace Pipkin, a 23-year-old mother of two who’s expecting her third child while serving time in Rikers, told Essence.

After two previous pregnancies, one in which she followed doctors’ instructions without question and another in which her boyfriend spoke for her, Pipkin says the doula support at Rikers has transformed her current experience, making her feel truly seen and heard.

“Now I feel like even though I do have somebody else speaking for me, my doula is also another mom and another woman,” Pipkin said. “She understands my pain, feelings, and emotions, and how I feel about everything happening. So it makes me feel like I have a bigger voice, like I’m actually being heard. I get so excited when I see my doulas.”

The Rikers Island Doula Program, a partnership between the Caribbean Women’s Health Association and NYC’s Department of Corrections, offers prenatal and postpartum support to incarcerated women twice a week, with at least three hours of direct care per day. The program follows Councilwoman Rosenthal’s 2021 initiative to provide doula care to pregnant inmates at Rikers twice a week for four hours, with doulas also available for deliveries upon request.

“All women deserve safe and supportive labor and delivery spaces regardless of their circumstances. That is a basic human right,” said DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie.

“As advocates for the mother, doulas play a critical role preparing their clients for delivery and supporting them through what is a challenging and beautiful process. The women in our care deserve nothing less, and I am so thankful to the dedicated doulas who volunteer their time to support the expectant mothers in facilities.”

The program’s success is felt by passionate doulas who take pride in their weekly visits to Rikers to help women in need.

“I became a doula for this reason,” said Mathania Toussaint, a doula on Rikers Island. “For Black women, I wanted to go into maternal health and maternal work, to support my people, the fact that we die at rates that we do is ludicrous.”