An Interview with Our New Interim Executive Director, Adwapa Asenso

“Advocacy for me means explaining and standing up for what is important to you, and what matters to you, and what is right for you.”

We are excited to introduce our new Interim Executive Director, Adwapa Asenso!

Adwapa first became a doula in 2020. In addition to taking on the Interim Executive Director role, she has also worked as a doula at Accompany Doula Care and served on the Accompany Board.

Adwapa has a background in public sector nonprofit work and told us that she stepped into the role to “give back” and support Accompany’s ongoing growth.

Read more of our interview with Adwapa below!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including your background and work experience? 

I'm originally from Ghana, born and raised in Ghana. Then, I moved to the U.S. for college. So, I've spent my adult life in the U.S., but I still consider myself very Ghanaian. I went to Spelman [College] in Atlanta. I did my undergrad in Economics and then moved to D.C., and I got my masters in Public Policy. Then, I wanted to do two things: I wanted to work for the World Bank, because I wanted to do a little bit of international development. But my goal, then, was also to be in the education sector. So, I wanted to do a little bit of things in education, but my dream was to move to Ghana and start my own university. And then I moved to Boston because Massachusetts is the mecca of education. So that was my goal, let me learn as much as I can, move back home, and have this great university that would compete with Harvard in the future!

So, I moved to Boston with the goal of working directly with education organizations. My first job was with Year Up in Boston, and I moved around a lot working in various capacities within the public and nonprofit sector. All my roles from 2012 to 2016 were in some education-related organizations, and I did everything but teaching – only because I did not think I had the patience to teach. 

I got married. We started to have kids. I had a pregnancy loss. And then, I just started to ask questions. You know, the older you get, you just have to ask questions. So what are you really doing? What is it that you're meant to do?

So, my husband and I had some pregnancy losses, and some scares, and then we finally had a baby in 2020. I remember in February of 2020, the 28th, I took a friend to the hospital, labored with her. Everything was great. She had a baby unmedicated, and when I was leaving, I had a nurse chase me down the hallway. The nurse was like, “Hey, what's your information? I'd like to recommend you to a friend,” and I was like “For what?” She said, “Were you not her doula?” And I was like, “I don't know what that word is, I'm going home.” So, that was my introduction to what a doula was.

I came home, I told my husband, and he was like, “Oh, this is great! I think it's like an actual thing, like you should look into it.” And I was like, I have this great thing going on in my life. And then it just started to, like, ring. It just started to sit with me. I was pregnant then. I had just found out I was pregnant. That's when I had my three-and-a-half year old. Now, after I had her, I just decided, like a lightbulb switch.  And I was like, let me look into this doula thing that people talk about. So, I did a training and it was COVID. Everything was online. I did a training. And then, I was like, “Hmm! This might be it, you know.” I have a home office, and I go to a three-week certification. I thought “I have found my career”, but I didn't think I’d be a doula.

I've always been the one friend who they call when they're pregnant. They call me when they're going into labor. I'm just like, Oh, let me just see what other things I can do. No idea that this will be me now. So that's how I fell into this whole doula life. I did it part time, and then I decided, “I want to do it full-time.” I left my job and started my own company here in Worcester. and I started to tell people that I was a doula. I got trained again, because I wanted an in-person training. I got trained again, and then I just like took things running. And then I worked with Accompany for a bit as a doula. while also still managing my business here. And then I left Accompany and joined their board. and I was on the board for a while, and then they were looking for an interim [executive director]. And I was like, “Well, I've done this stuff before, not at the ED level. But I've done everything that we need to do. And I know I can do it.”

Can you describe your experience working as a doula? With the patients that you worked with, what is something that stood out to you with working with other women or people who are giving birth?

I think the one thing that stands out to me is that everybody needs support, like I don't care who you are. Everybody needs some kind of support, right? Some are more needy than others. But that's just like everybody needs relationship.  So for me, that's where it comes from. The other thing that stands out for me is that support without education means nothing. And I say that to mean that you can be there and be fully present with them. But if you're not providing the families with the right tools and the right information, they won't be able to make informed decisions. So that's kind of my philosophy with how I support people as a doula. How can I help you know who you are and your body, so that you can advocate for yourself, but also, more importantly, know what you want and not what a block said, or what your provider said, or what your mother told you? But more so, what is in it for you and your body, and your immediate family?

What does advocacy mean to you?

It's a good question, actually. Advocacy for me means explaining and standing up for what is important to you, and what matters to you, and what is right for you. Because sometimes what matters to you and what is right for you are not the same thing. We get confused with what is right for us and what is important to us because we are distracted by the noise. The noise could be what family is telling us, what providers are telling us, what we are reading somewhere else, but not knowing what it means for you and the impact for your body. So it’s standing up for that and sticking to it and being vocal about it in different ways, and vocal doesn't have to be you being the loudest in the room. Vocal could just be closing your legs and saying you would not want a cervical check because you're tired of it.

What's one misconception about doulas that you would like to clear up?

I will say that doulas are not needed. I used to think that, Like, why would you pay somebody to come and hold your hand? 

We don’t hold people’s hands. That’s not what we do. We do that if we need to, but that’s not what they’re paying a doula to do. And I think a lot of people think that’s what a doula is. They bring the lights, they sprinkle some magical fairy dust, and we come and do kumbaya. I would not come and do kumbaya. The way I operate is, I kind of go with the flow in the room, but I’m a very energetic person. So, I come in and dance, and I’m laughing, and I make you feel at peace. I make you feel safe, whatever that means for you. For some people, that means quiet. For some people, it means they want it to be a party in the room. They want to celebrate their birth. And for a lot of people, especially partners, they think that they don’t need any kind of guidance, until they’re in it, and they’re like, “Whoo! I need somebody.” But that’s what it is. 

I think people just think we come in, we hold and we massage your hand. But it’s more than that. We prepare you for one of the most wonderful moments of your life. That, alone, is deep. A lot of people you get, you go into marriage counseling, you go to school, You get coached to do a lot of things. So, why not get coached for one of the most vulnerable times, whether it is the happiest time or not. I don’t like to say, “Having your baby is the happiest time,” because people will say, “Getting married is the happiest time,” or getting your PhD might be your dream. But, it’s really the most vulnerable time of your life. That’s the way I see it. 

Why did you get involved with Accompany Doula Care, and what has your experience been like? 

I first heard about Accompany at one of my trainings. For me, when I came into this world, this doula world, I came in as a private doula. So, you have to be able to afford a doula to work with me. And, I wanted to work with people who could not afford to have a doula. I also wanted to work with people who otherwise would not be noticed, and for people who needed support. So, I wanted to kind of get that balance, and that’s why for me, the first time, I was like, “Oh, there’s an organization like that? Cool.”

But, the deeper level of that was, I was also high risk when I had my baby, and I wanted people who are high risk. I wanted people who would value me, not because they’re paying for me, but because they have other things going on that I would come in and not be their savior, but be the person to get them through all the, for lack of better words, BS that’s going on in life for them. 

That’s why I joined as a doula. And then, I also joined as a board member, because I wanted to help Accompany and support Accompany as they were looking to be more strategic. Coming from that space of working in nonprofit in the public sector, I wanted to use that skill set. I left corporate, but I didn’t want to leave those skills on the table. I wanted to also provide those skills to somebody, and I felt like that was an organization that I could just give back to. So, I see it as a give back of everything that I have learned in my life, and not necessarily like anything I am taking away from them. 

Why did you decide to step into the Interim Executive Director role?

I’m a very humble person, but I also know what I’m good at and I know what I’m not good at, right? I saw that there was something missing and that I could help and I could support. For me, like I said, it was the whole “give back.” I have learned and used all these skills in organizations, not that I didn’t care about, but organizations that could have done without me. I felt like I could bring these skills that I have learned into an organization that I am passionate about, that I have been there for, and has also been there for me. I’m learning a lot of stuff from Accompany as a doula and as a board member. I felt like it’s something that I’m good at, and something that I would like to do. I enjoy what I’m doing. That’s why I did it. I was like, “Let me do some things I enjoy again, and see how it goes.”

What’s one thing you wish all expecting families knew before they gave birth?

That it’s hard. It’s hard work. Getting pregnant is hard. Staying pregnant is hard. Delivering a baby is hard. And sustaining that baby is hard. But, it’s also so doable. You need a village. Humans were not made to do this alone. We always needed to be around people. And I don’t care what people say, I’m also a feminist, but I believe that you don’t just need a partner. You need a village in order to get things okay. If not, you’re going to be really unhappy, and we were not meant to be unhappy.