<i>It's Not for the Faint of Heart</i> : Empathy Socialization Among Birth Doulas

ABSTRACT Birth doulas provide services to those giving birth and their families during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. A central part of their emotional labor consists of empathizing with their clients. Drawing on 40 in‐depth interviews with a diverse group of doulas practicing in a large metropolitan area of the US South, we examine empathy socialization among these workers. We identify three interrelated phases of empathy socialization: preparing for empathy, getting involved, and detaching from empathy. While these stages are interlinked, we consider detaching from empathy a crucial step in empathy socialization, given that doula work is physically and emotionally exhausting and that doula training programs and their peer support networks systematically encourage detachment. In the conclusion, we discuss the implications of this research for birth workers, birthing people, and parents in the United States.