About NAPS

NAPS began in 1996 as a collective of postpartum doulas wanting to support each other and increase their visibility in the Seattle area.  In 2021, 25 years later, NAPS became a full spectrum doula organization. We are a not-for-profit with a volunteer board of directors.  We are able to offer continuing education, mentorship, peer support, marketing, and certification through the membership dues, fees, and donations from our community.   We will never request money from parents for doula referrals.

Mission Statement:

The Northwest Association for Perinatal Support (NAPS) invests in a diverse and equitable community for doulas across the full spectrum of reproductive experiences. NAPS supports its doulas through mentorship, continuing education, peer connection, advocacy, competency-based certification, and promoting visibility within client and provider communities.

Vision Statement:

NAPS envisions a strong community where every doula is supported and valued for their skills, experience, and contributions. NAPS envisions a world without adverse outcomes, with equitable access to culturally competent, full spectrum doula care for all people, through the many thresholds of their reproductive lives.

Anti-Oppression Statement

As a professional organization that mentors, educates, and certifies doulas,  as a collective of human beings who care deeply about dismantling systems of oppression and anti-Blackness that exist in our professional community. NAPS, as an organization, historically and presently run predominantly by white people, is not yet doing all that we can to undo the systemic racism, the anti-Blackness, and the anti-queer/trans gate-keeping endemic in birth professions. There is always more to be done. 

The NAPS board feels strongly that we must make a stand to challenge white supremacy as an organization in an effort to be constantly working toward allyship, toward inclusivity, toward building a safe and supportive world for all families and those who serve them. We must center the truth that Black, Brown and Indigenous babies die at more than twice the rate of white babies. We must center the truth that Black, Brown and Indigenous birthing parents die at more than 3 times the rate of white parents. Systemic racism, racist bias, systemic poverty, and intergenerational trauma are driving worsening outcomes for Black and Indigenous families. This is a crisis and we must not continue to be silent.

We recognize that equity begins on the individual level. We all need to be doing our own work on an ongoing basis to examine our  biases around race and gender. It is not enough to say “I don’t have any; I treat everyone the same”. When we start the work of internal examination, we find that isn’t actually true. Building a more just and equitable community requires that we do our internal work and we must also be actively working to change the systems that continue to oppress people in every way that we can. As an organization we have a responsibility to support our members doing both this internal and collective work.

You can find a timeline of the work that we’re doing as an organization here.

If you have questions about the above Anti-Oppression statement or are wondering why we are taking such a stance as an organization that serves doulas, please check out the RESOURCE LIST HERE. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact the Co-Directors at info@napsdoulas.com.