Responding in Times of Need

“I’m a Black woman and because I don’t have a ton of capital already, they don’t see me as valuable,” said Shanille Bowens, owner of Naturally Nurtured Birth Services in Memphis, Tennessee, about her attempt to apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. “They want you to already have funds to apply for more, which really doesn’t help because you have to have a starting point. You have to have someone to help you climb the ladder to success.”

Bowens’ company provides doula services, primarily to women of color. A doula offers physical, emotional, and educational support throughout pregnancy, labor, birth, and early motherhood. With the HOPE PPP loan, Bowens continues to change the systems of care and support to save the lives of women of color and their newborns.

Memphis has one of the country’s highest rates of preterm births, which Bowens said is 44% higher for Black women than the rate among all other women in the area. Black women nationwide are four times as likely as white women to die from childbirth and postpartum complications. Many of these complications and deaths are preventable.

Bowens said that with a doula, those outcomes decrease significantly. A doula helps a woman develop a birth plan, supports her during labor, and cares for her in the early stages of motherhood. “We listen to them, we show up for them, we advocate for them. We’re also mothers who’ve given birth in Memphis. We have a personal point of view when it comes to things that are lacking in Memphis and the surrounding areas,” said Bowens, mother of six.

When COVID hit, suddenly Bowens and her fellow doulas were not permitted into hospitals to accompany women in labor, at a time of fear and uncertainty when their support was most needed. “There were a lot of unknowns,” Bowens said. As the pandemic continued, her company’s income dropped because fewer families sought out its services.

Bowens and her colleagues tried to adapt by devising different strategies and mechanisms to work around pandemic restrictions, but after about six months, she decided to apply for a PPP loan. Having been previously turned down for business loans from another bank, Bowens decided to turn to HOPE, of which she is a member.

Naturally Nurtured was approved quickly for $3,800. Without the PPP, Bowens said she faced the prospect of scaling back the company’s services. The company used the loan to purchase Personal Protective Equipment and digital platforms allowing the doulas and consultants to meet with women virtually and expand their reach. Naturally Nurtured now works with women in Arkansas and Mississippi in addition to the Memphis area.

Bowens said that Naturally Nurtured has made women aware of the childbirth choices available to them, enabling her business to succeed, and that more women are now choosing home births to avoid hospitals due to COVID. They fear being separated from their partners or their babies, and COVID has compounded existing fears about giving birth in a hospital, creating a greater demand for doula services. For Black women, these fears are compounded by the skepticism many have about the U.S. healthcare system and its ability to provide them with good, unbiased care.

Bowens is grateful for the role that HOPE has played in her life and her region. “When you have your bank in the middle of an at-risk community, it’s important to give back,” Bowens said. “When I bank with HOPE, I don’t feel like I’m just another number.  I feel like there’s an actual relationship. No one can get anywhere if they don’t have a starting point.”