Background
In 2020 we received funding through the Arizona Department of Health to provide a series of training in Arizona centered around Native American Maternal Health. Through the funding partnership, we were able to host 2virtual Indigenous doula trainings and 5 birth worker events located in several tribal communities throughout Arizona. Before this, we hosted the first Indigenous doula training in Window Rock, AZ where we trained 40Navajo Doulas. It was clear from the beginning that bringing skills and training to rural communities was important to increase resources in these communities. Further, tribal communities needed access to education about birth, midwifery, breastfeeding, and parenting. To date, 10 of the doulas we trained created the Dine’ Doula collective from this training and are doing incredible work in Gallup. They have also benefited from the Indigenous Breastfeeding Peer Counselor training and now have a Navajo Breastfeeding Coalition as well.