Samantha Griffin is in the business of helping people just as their lives are about to change forever.
Griffin, 34, is a doula and owner of DC Metro Maternity, an agency specializing in labor and postpartum support for women of color in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.
As a doula, she supports people through pregnancy, birth and postpartum. She helps clients understand how their bodies and emotions change through the experience, and during labor serves as an advocate in the delivery room to make sure clients are safe and comfortable.
Samantha Griffin is a doula and owner of DC Metro Maternity.Xinyan Yu | CNBC Make It
It's kind of like when people hire a wedding planner, she tells CNBC Make It: "The couple at the center of it gets to make the decisions. Birth is something that, in my opinion, you should really be in charge of. What we're there to do is really to help you gather all of the pieces that you need to make that happen."
Griffin took her first client in 2014, began working full-time as a doula in 2016, and launched her own agency in 2018. In the four years since, Griffin and her 10-person team have helped deliver and care for more than 150 babies in the Washington area.
As a doula and business owner, Griffin earned about $85,000 in the last year. Here's a look at what it takes to be a doula.
Getting the job
Griffin grew up in the Washington suburbs and studied music and psychology at Duke University. While there, she took race and gender studies classes and wanted to put her interest in the topics into practice. She graduated in 2009 and took a job with a nonprofit, where she helped young women in the foster care system.
While there, Griffin learned that roughly>A day>Generational impact
Griffin hopes to be a doula until she's "old and gray."
In her nine years of experience, she's already seen a "huge shift" in people becoming aware of the disparities in health care for Black families. She says tennis star Serena Williams' life-threatening birthing experience was a "watershed moment" for public awareness of a biased medical system.
Samantha Griffin is hopeful there is more awareness and momentum to improve the Black maternal mortality rate in the U.S.Xinyan Yu | CNBC Make It
The issues that result in high Black maternal mortality rates have existed for a long time, so Griffin knows it will take more than her decade of experience in the field to make lasting changes. But she remains optimistic and focused: "I'm hopeful that we're at least headed in the right direction."
She also feels she'll have a lasting impact as a business owner who can mentor others in the space. "I want a small business that's grounded in the community and sticks around a really long time and pays living wages," she says. "I do hope that I get to support a few generations of people."
