Alabama Cohosh Collaborative

Guidelines

They provide in-clinic abortion doula support for people having surgical procedures at Alabama Women’s Center in north Alabama. They have abortion doulas available in clinic on all procedure days, there to support patients at no-cost. If you’d like more information about what abortion doula support will look like during your surgical procedure, please send an email and they will love to help.

About Alabama Cohosh Collaborative

Alabama Cohosh Collaborative was founded in 2019 to improve reproductive healthcare in Alabama. They provide in-clinic abortion doula support for people having surgical procedures at Alabama Women’s Center in north Alabama.

The Alabama Abortion Doula Initiative is the founding project of the organization. They believe that all people having abortions deserve support. Their goal is to provide professional abortion doula support to every person having an abortion in Alabama. They believe this work has the capacity to shift stigma around abortion, as many people come in for their procedures full of fear, shame, and guilt over their decision. Having the support of a compassionate, unbiased support person makes a huge difference.

The impact of abortion doula support for pregnant people cannot be overstated. Doulas are able to focus solely on the mental and emotional wellbeing of the person having an abortion. They can provide a calming presence, physical touch as reassurance (if desired), help with coping techniques for discomfort, and are a listening ear for people to express whatever they are feeling before, during, and after their abortion procedure.

There are a myriad of barriers to accessing safe reproductive care in the state of Alabama. Abortion access is extremely limited, with only three clinics in the state. The social climate is hostile towards people seeking abortions, with patients often facing verbal harassment and threats as they enter and exit clinics. Patients face an overall social stigma towards abortion and may have no support for their decision.

Abortion is often a multifaceted experience for people, full of a myriad of emotions and physical sensations. Having a doula there to act as a guide through the experience can buffer from cultural stigma and shame, helping to support the process of emotionally integrating the physical and psychological shift from being pregnant to being not-pregnant.

In addition to abortion doula work, they also provide reproductive justice-based support to the north Alabama community through the North Alabama Breast Pump Project and the North Alabama Cloth Diaper Bank, which offer pumps and cloth diapers to any family who states a need. In addition, they are working towards establishing a birth doula fund through the Black Birthers Doula Initiative.

They are grateful to be a part of making Alabama a safer place for all pregnant and postpartum people.

Participate

They would love for you to consider sponsoring them as an individual member by choosing Alabama Cohosh Collaborative as your anchor fund! They are also always seeking BIPOC birth and abortion workers to apply for their doula team.