From Legislation to Implementation: Supporting the Doula Workforce

Together, we’re transforming Medicaid wins into sustainable, community-rooted care for every birthing person in New Mexico.

From Legislation to Implementation: Supporting the Doula Workforce image

Community doulas led—and we are following.

In 2025, New Mexico passed HB 214: The Doula Credentialing and Access Act, establishing the nation’s most comprehensive Medicaid coverage for full-spectrum doula care—including abortion, miscarriage, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and loss. This victory wasn’t handed to us. It was drafted by doulas, organized by BIPOC communities, and rooted in generations of labor, love, and resistance.

“Rather than demand doulas fit into the system, New Mexico enabled the system to follow doulas. That’s how change begins.”
— Melissa Marie Lopez-Sullivan, Ms. Magazine

This Is Our Time—Help Us Build What Comes Next

At the New Mexico Doula Association (NMDA), we are walking in step with the doulas who have long carried this work. We are not leading—we are supporting. We are following the lead of those who still don’t stop showing up for their communities, even when systems fail to.

With over 70% of births in New Mexico covered by Medicaid, this moment could reshape the lives of thousands—but only if we build the infrastructure doulas and families deserve.

Your Donation Supports:

  • Credentialing & Enrollment Support
    Helping doulas navigate Medicaid systems that weren’t built for them
  • Mentorship & Training
    Especially for BIPOC, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, disabled, immigrant and rural doulas
  • Food Justice & Birthwork Integration
    Partnering with land stewards to nourish families beyond the clinic
  • Disability & Healing Justice Leadership
    Ensuring diverse bodies and minds are centered

Invest in Birth and Reproductive Justice

We need to raise $50,000 to continue this vital work. Every contribution ensures our communities—not just policies—are held in care.

A Blueprint for the Nation

While other states pilot, New Mexico made it permanent. HB 214 creates a state-funded infrastructure and a community advisory council to ensure doulas continue to lead its implementation.

This work is a blueprint for national birth and reproductive justice, led by the communities most often erased.

Believe in this future? Help protect it.

📣 Share. Give. Organize. Keep the movement alive.