By Katie Aizon, KUAM News Intern

More support for expectant mothers are in the works as the Guam Bureau of Women’s Affairs worked with senators to introduce Bill 318. The measure would assist them in getting funding to train doulas on island.

“I want to put some seed funding in for this program because I see the value in what doulas do,” said Director of Women’s Affairs Jayne Flores.

She said it aims to deliver more assistance to pregnant women, locally.

Doulas are non-medical professionals who are trained in supporting mommy’s to be emotionally, mentally, and physically during pregnancy and postpartum.

Doula Tia Muña Aguon said the work they do helps pregnant women in ways that may not immediately come to mind.

“I think that oftentimes we might see a pregnant woman and or hear that someone is going to be having a baby and if we’re not actively in that season of our life we might forget what’s going on. we might not think about or acknowledge the mental things that are going on for this person or what the worries are and also the influx of different things coming into mind,” said Aguon.

While emotional wellness is a primary way doulas support women throughout their pregnancy, doula Kirsten Rosario, an instructor and advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing, added providing equal access to communication is another part of the job.

“The disparities of language deprivation happens within the hospitals so having that extra support not only being there to support the mothers whether they’re young or old at least we’ll be there to support before or after and even during,” said Rosario.

If passed, the bill would provide the women’s affairs four hundred thousand dollars to bring in doula trainers from stateside and make it easier for women to be able to work with doulas.