How Divas and Doulas Got Started

Divas and Doulas was born out of the belief that every expectant parent, regardless of identity, socio-economic status, age, or background, deserves a positive, healthy, and satisfying birth experience. It is an organization that is committed to ensuring expecting parents are the center of attention, that they feel respected and heard, and that low-income parents have access to a service that has innumerable benefits but would otherwise be out of reach.

Nadia Igram was a legal aid attorney before taking some time off to have and raise her three children, while continuing to do some legal work and other projects on the side. After having a particularly positive birth experience with the birth of her third child in 2018 she formulated a plan to help as many women as possible have similarly satisfying birth experiences. She had heard way too many stories of births that did not go as planned, new parents who were unhappy with their experiences, and often a general feeling of being ignored and having been treated poorly. As the bulk of her legal practice has been with marginalized populations, she knew her focus on the most vulnerable would continue into her doula work. Nadia now provides birth doula services, as well as related legal services, and utilizes an income-based sliding scale fee system to ensure her services are always accessible.