01/05/2026
Exciting updates!
The UNM Volunteer Birth Companion Program was founded in 2017 by two doulas, a midwife, and a family physician. From the very beginning, we rooted our care in the belief that all families deserve access to excellent support when they are bringing a baby into the world. We built our program grounded in and guided by our values of reproductive justice, including radical presence and radical self-care.
In our years serving families at UNM, we’ve accomplished so much, including being named as the 2025 Volunteer Group of the Year for the City of Albuquerque, receiving funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, running our Advanced Doula Traineeship, and publishing an article about our program in the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health. Not to mention achieving great satisfaction ratings from volunteers, families, and providers!
We also learned about the very real difficulties involved in running a volunteer program. With Medicaid reimbursement becoming available for doulas in NM, it no longer feels appropriate or aligned with our values to ask doulas to volunteer their time when they could be paid a living wage for supporting laboring families. Find a doula at nmdoula.org
The UNM Birth Companion Program will no longer provide volunteer on-call labor support at UNMH, effective December 31, 2025. Expect something new and exciting in the Spring of 2026!
Founders Carrie Murphy and Paula Reiss and program manager Ximena Correa have founded a new non-profit organization focused on perinatal workforce development called Perinatal Community Voices The UNM Birth Companion Program and Perinatal Community Voices will collaborate with current co-director Katie Kivlighan, CNM, PhD in the delivery of the next iteration of our UNM Advanced Doula Traineeship in 2026. Stay tuned for more information about the traineeship and Perinatal Community Voices.
We are sad to see the volunteer birth companion program end, but are excited to work with the community to strengthen support for birthworkers and in turn, for birthing families themselves. It has been an honor to spend eight years in collaboration with UNM and the greater Albuquerque birth community to serve families with compassion, conscience, and care. Thank you to everyone who has supported our program along the way.
If you have questions or need more information, email Ximena Correa at [email protected].
