We recently connected with Yenny James and have shared our conversation below.

Yenny, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

When reflecting on where I am today professionally, it’s very evident that everything that I have done in the past 15 years has led me to this moment in my career.

I began working in the medical field when I was 16 years old, as a certified nursing assistant(CNA). I specifically worked in hospice care because there was something special about supporting families and patients in their last moments of life. I learned so much from every patient and family that I supported. When I was 17, I became a medical response technician(MRT), being trained in emergency medical care. While I became certified in a new profession, I really missed supporting patients on hospice care and their families. So I returned to hospice care until the end of my sophomore year in college.

This is where the trajectory of my career really changed. At the end of my sophomore year in college, I decided to join the Navy as a hospital corpsman. During my time in the military, I worked with expectant families and children ranging from newborn to adolescence. I fell in love with these specialties and is where I really began doing doula work. While supporting families, I became pregnant with my first son! My husband and I were so excited, but I quickly learned how unsupported I would be as a pregnant active duty service member.

After being honorably discharged from the Navy at 36 weeks pregnant and then giving birth to my son via an emergency cesarean-which was preventable-, I realized that I was alone in my recovery. My husband was only given 10 days of leave, and here I found myself having to recover from major surgery, trying to process the trauma, having no postpartum support, especially with breastfeeding, and experiencing extreme postpartum depression. I knew that I was not alone, so I focused on supporting military families and families in underserved communities.

Yenny, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Yenny James, and there are so many different experiences that make me who I am. I am a wife, a mother of two beautiful children, a Navy veteran, an immigrant, a sister, a daughter, a leader, but most importantly, a servant.

I am a doula and community health worker who has been supporting families for over 10 years. I have had the honor of serving families from all different walks of life, particularly focusing on serving teen parents(including those in foster care), refugees, expectant parents in homeless shelters, victims of human trafficking, surrogates and adoptive families, and our military families. Doulas have been around for a very long time, but unfortunately, families in underserved communities have not had fair access to birth and postpartum doulas because of financial hardship. I wanted to change that narrative because I believe that everyone should have access to doula support regardless of socioeconomic status. It was clear that a paradigm shift was needed in our birth communities, which is why I founded my company, Paradigm Doulas.

As the founder and CEO of Paradigm Doulas, I love training doulas who are passionate about not only serving expectant and postpartum families, but also passionate about reducing maternal and infant mortality rates. There are so many things that I teach in my training to equip doulas as they begin to support families, especially as it relates to trauma-informed care. When aspiring doulas register for my class, a portion of registration goes to nonprofits whose mission is to improve birth outcomes, as well as my scholarship fund. Through Paradigm Doulas, not only do I train and certify doulas, but I also provide doula support to families in my community and families across our country who would like virtual support.

Although I am a leader in my community, I want to be viewed as not just a leader, but someone who serves their communities. I believe that all leaders should lead by example, and that’s what I choose to do.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Apart from training, passion will always take you a long way. As doulas, we are invited by families to be part of a very intimate and beautiful moment in their lives. You have to be passionate, and have a level of compassion to work with families through their fears, through childbirth, and through a very fragile time postpartum.

For doulas whose mission is to improve birth outcomes, it’s important to be persistent as we work towards change and advocacy. Improving birth outcomes is a collective effort and will not happen overnight. That’s why we must come together and be the change that our communities need.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I would never want to change my calling in life. Being a birth worker has been such a rewarding and fulfilling profession. I have loved working with all families, especially those in underserved communities. There are many expectant parents who would give birth alone or have no postpartum support if I did not provide my services.

There’s a transformation that occurs within a person on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level when they conceive and during birth. It has been an honor and a humbling experience to watch this transformation and help families through the process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://paradigmdoulas.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paradigmdoulas/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paradigmdoulas
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yennyjames/

Image Credits
Alize Boggs