Experience Doesn't Pay the Bills!

I’ve been a birthworker for ten years, from doula to midwifery assistant to midwife myself, and one thing I’ve seen over and over is the idea that experience is a currency we can use to avoid paying actual money to those that help us.

Unpaid internships are almost a staple in the United States, a thing of privilege, and in my opinion, a thing that needs to be dismantled. I’m not saying it will happen overnight, but I think steps need to be taken to get rid of this archaic system, propped up by privilege and tradition.

“I had to do my apprenticeship for free (or even had to pay for it), and it made me learn better/faster/what have you, and I think we should continue it.”

How many times as a birthworker have you heard that? Did it make you more excited to get into the field, or did it seem like an impossible barrier so your dream would never come to fruition?

Being on call for weeks at a time has its own set of challenges, and doing it for free makes it even more challenging. Most birthworkers have children that need care while you’re away, a working car with a full gas tank, and some apprenticeships even require you to have certain equipment before you can begin or to pay a fee to attend the birth, and if you are working for free, your partner needs to be working a great job to cover your expenses, or you need to have another source of income while doing this work while also having the freedom to be on call and leave whenever you need. All of this can lead to burnout, additional stress and worries, and for a lot of people, the inability to even be able to do an apprenticeship which would line up in every other way except for finances.

If we are requiring certain trainings, tools, resources, and more as a minimum for people to even consider working for and with us, why are we letting an antiquated system decide how we can support them in their process? Why are we content with putting our past experiences in the forefront, saying that nothing can change because we didn’t have the option of not only payment, but more things on top of that?

In a world that is ever changing, why are we so content in the idea that experience is equivalent to cash?

It’s not a new idea. Artists, freelancers, and many more careers off the beaten path have been told for years that exposure = payment, and it’s just not true. Why is it that interns in a hospital are paid (though it is bare minimum), but apprentices for a midwifery practice are told to find another way to make it work because the experience is the payment? In what world is experience a currency that can not only pay bills and keep a roof over your head, but make you want to truly be in that field and not feel like someone just there as unpaid labor?

Our world requires money to live. I wish it wasn’t that way. Insurance is expensive, cars are expensive, housing is expensive, food is expensive. Experience doesn’t pay for any of that.

When I did my apprenticeship, I was privileged to have a supportive partner and supportive friends. I didn’t have to worry about what to do with my child if I was called to a birth, which was a massive load off my mind. I didn’t have to worry about filling the tank to get to a birth because we had a bit of money to spare to make sure I could.

And yet, I can’t help thinking about what it would have been like to not put all that pressure on my partner and our relationship. What would it have been like if I had been able to provide at least a little bit back to help buy food, to buy gas, to pay for our car insurance. I would have been more willing to be a part of the experience, I would have eagerly joined in on more events. Being paid would have given me a buffer, an ability to breathe a little should something outside our very tight budget happen.

What if we decided to change this paradigm and tradition. What if instead of saying “Well I had to….” we instead said, “I did mine for free, but you don’t have to.” What if instead of putting the responsibility outside ourselves, watching person after person quit, leave, or burnout, we gave them a little bit of financial security in exchange for their presence, training, and help. Even if the relationship doesn’t last as long as we want, or they decide to pursue another path, what if we put the effort in and showed our appreciation with a little bit of monetary compensation for the work they do so we can focus elsewhere.

We don’t need to perpetuate a harmful tradition anymore.

Just think of how many more birthworkers we could create if we simply said, “No more.”