Michigan Prison Doula Initiative

There are more mothers in prison now, in America, than any other place and time in history. The realities of mass incarceration, the war on drugs, long and indeterminate sentencing, and reluctance to provide alternatives to incarceration has led to the dissolution of the American family—particularly in communities of color and poverty. The result has been devastated communities, financial ruin, an

d what amounts to state-mandated separation and neglect. We have created a generation of children more likely to enter the prison system because their family members were not there to mitigate the effects of growing up in a racist, classist society. The Michigan Prison Doula Initiative seeks to intervene on some of these disturbing realities at the time when mothers are most vulnerable—while pregnant and in prison. Through childbirth and nutritional education, prenatal and labor support, and postpartum visitation coordinating efforts, our organization hopes to strengthen the bond between children and their incarcerated mothers, efforts which have elsewhere been proven to reduce recidivism rates and help reintegrate mothers back into their families and communities upon release.