Supporting Families in Recovery: Trinity Doula Services’ Collaboration with SIRAC & Hour House
Pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period can be vulnerable seasons for any family. For families who are navigating substance use, recovery, or the effects of a substance use disorder, those experiences can come with additional layers of fear, stigma, uncertainty, and barriers to support.
That is why I am incredibly proud of the work Trinity Doula Services is doing in collaboration with SIRAC and Hour House to help expand access to compassionate, recovery-informed doula support throughout Southern Illinois.
Building Recovery Doula Support in Southern Illinois
Through this collaboration, I serve as a consultant and maternal-child health subject matter expert for the Recovery Doula program.
Each week, I meet with the doulas to talk through the realities of supporting families during pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum—particularly when substance use or recovery is part of the family's story.
Our conversations go far beyond simply learning comfort measures for labor.
We talk about trauma-informed care, professional boundaries, medications used in the treatment of opioid use disorder, supporting families experiencing neonatal withdrawal, navigating hospital environments, postpartum vulnerability, relapse and recovery, communication with medical teams, ethical decision-making, and how doulas can advocate for families without stepping outside of their scope of practice.
We also talk about something that is incredibly important to me: seeing the person before the diagnosis, history, or substance use.
Families deserve dignity.
They deserve informed support.
They deserve someone in the room who isn't there to judge them.
And they deserve to feel like active participants in their own care.
Creating Something That Will Continue to Grow
Another part of my role has been developing educational materials that can be used not only by the doulas currently participating in the program, but by future Recovery Doulas who come after them.
I have been building training modules, worksheets, resources, discussion materials, and practical guidance designed specifically around the situations these doulas may encounter in the real world.
The goal isn't simply to train a handful of doulas today.
It's to help build a foundation that allows this work to continue.
Every conversation we have, every scenario we work through, and every resource we develop contributes to a stronger program for the next group of Recovery Doulas—and ultimately more support for Southern Illinois families.
As someone who grew up in Southern Illinois and has spent more than a decade supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, being able to bring my experience back into communities in this region is especially meaningful to me.
Recovery-Informed Doula Care Matters
Substance use during pregnancy is often discussed almost entirely through the lens of risk.
Risk matters—but so does the human being experiencing it.
A doula isn't there to replace addiction treatment, medical care, mental health services, social work, or any other member of the family's professional care team.
We are there to provide something different.
We can provide consistent emotional support. We can help families understand what is happening around them. We can help them prepare questions for their providers. We can offer comfort measures during labor. We can support partners. We can reinforce informed decision-making. We can help someone feel grounded when the medical environment becomes overwhelming.
Sometimes, simply having one person consistently treating you with dignity can make a difference.
Recovery-informed doula care recognizes that families can need both accountability and compassion. That someone can have a complicated history and still deserve respectful maternity care. And that recovery is not made easier by shame.
Free Birth Doula Services Are Currently Available
One of the most exciting parts of this collaboration is that SIRAC/Hour House Recovery Doulas are currently accepting a limited number of families for completely free birth doula support in Southern Illinois.
These doulas are working toward completing their birth doula certification requirements while receiving ongoing education, consultation, and support through the Recovery Doula program.
There is no cost to participating families.
Priority may be given to families who are currently experiencing substance use challenges, have a history of substance use, or are in recovery, although Southern Illinois families who need birth doula support are encouraged to apply.
Because this is a specific collaborative program, these free services are not booked through Trinity Doula Services' regular inquiry system.
To request free SIRAC/Hour House Recovery Doula support, you must complete the program application:
Completing this form is the only way to apply for these specific free doula services.
Availability is limited and depends on participating doula availability, location, and program requirements.
Creating Better Support Through Community
One of the things I have learned repeatedly throughout my years in birth work is that meaningful change rarely happens because one person or one organization tries to do everything.
It happens through collaboration.
It happens when community organizations, doulas, healthcare professionals, recovery professionals, and families bring their knowledge and experiences together.
That is what makes this collaboration with SIRAC and Hour House so exciting.
We're supporting families who need care right now while simultaneously investing in the doulas who will support families in the future.
We're building skills.
We're building resources.
We're building relationships.
And, most importantly, we're working toward a Southern Illinois where more families—regardless of their history with substance use or where they are in their recovery journey—can walk into pregnancy, birth, and postpartum knowing they deserve compassionate, respectful support.
That is work I am incredibly proud to be part of.
Interested in the free Southern Illinois Recovery Doula program?
Apply here: https://bit.ly/4zTk7Fg
Please use this application rather than the Trinity Doula Services inquiry form, as it is the designated application process for all free SIRAC/Hour House Recovery Doula services.
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