At the beginning of the pandemic, Kay La Mumford received a call for help.
Mumford is a doula a trained but non-medical person who supports, educates and advocates for women during pregnancy and childbirth. She said a woman reached out to her asking for help for her daughter, who was in preterm labor halfway through her pregnancy.
Mumford and fellow doula Lakeeta Watts helped navigate the new pandemic policies and procedures in the labor and delivery world, as they searched for resources and tried to (virtually) support the mom. Unfortunately, the woman ended up losing her baby. I was very devastated and traumatized, said Mumford. I felt like I had failed the woman, like the hospitals had failed her, like COVID had failed her.