Krista Lumpkins wasn’t familiar with doulas or what they did until her experiences as a mother led her to become one. 

“[Doulas] are the people who whisper softly into mom’s ear to remind her to breathe and celebrate the beauty of her birthing experience after labor,” Lumpkins said. “We are the people who remind mothers that they aren’t in this experience alone.” 

Lumpkins is director of Training and Community Outreach at Birthing Beautiful Communities (BBC), a Cleveland nonprofit organization dedicated to decreasing the city’s infant and maternal mortality rate. 

BBC will host its first Doula & Community Expo on Saturday, April 6,  from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at BLDG 17 CLE, 4700 Lakeside Avenue East.  The theme, “Doulas as Superheroes,” will celebrate the work of Northeast Ohio doulas, birthworkers, caregivers and families.  

Lumpkins is a mother of four. On a recent morning, she explained how her own maternity experience brought her to where she is today. Her story also shows the valuable services that doulas offer.

‘We just want to reimagine what birth looks like in Northeast Ohio’ 

Lumpkins had two natural births and two medicated births. After the birth of her youngest children more than a decade ago, she suffered from feelings of sadness, anger, anxiety and tiredness for a long time.

She said she didn’t know how to articulate the experience at first, but she found out she was suffering from postpartum depression. There was no time to rest or reflect and take care of herself after the birth of each child, she said. 

“It’s basically, ‘You’re a mom now, you just have to go, go, go’,” Lumpkins said. “It was the first time where I was learning about my feelings and also going through these changes with my body.” 

To cope with her experience and help other friends and family with their pregnancies, she began working as a reiki healing and life coach. She would help women outline goals and plans after they left the hospital to make sure that, as mothers, they continued to create a safe environment for themselves and their babies. 

She became so passionate about the work that in 2019 she quit her corporate job to do the work full time. That same year she trained at BBC and became an officially licensed full spectrum doula who supports expecting mothers during pregnancy, labor and delivery and postpartum. 

Lumpkins said Saturday’s expo is an opportunity to connect more Black and brown expecting mothers and birthing people to quality resources, information and support in the city.

“Our organization really just wants to help Black and brown moms and reimagine what birth could look like in Northeast Ohio,” Lumpkins said. “Our infant and maternal health outcomes in the city are awful, but doulas and birth workers can help create better experiences and save lives.” 

In Cuyahoga County, Black babies are two times more likely to die before their first year than white babies, according to data from a 2023 Cuyahoga Child Fatality Review report. 

To help combat these issues, BBC was founded in 2014, with the aim of providing Cleveland mothers free labor and postpartum support services. The organization serves more than 700 families each year by creating birth plans, labor coaching, peer support classes and counseling.