BIRTHMARK INTERN JOB DESCRIPTION
Internship Term: August 2014- December 2014. 200-300 hours, as defined by University program practicum guidelines. Internship may be renewed for the spring semester.
Birthmark Mission: We assist women and their families in having the most empowering pregnancy, birth, and parenting experiences possible. We provide emotional, physical, and informational support to women and their families throughout the full spectrum of reproductive health and parenting. We collaborate and build relationships with many partners in order to increase access to education, support, and advocacy for pregnant and parenting women in our communities.
Internship Application: The Birthmark internship will be available each semester, Fall, Spring, and Summer according to the standard academic year. One internship will be available per semester. Applicants should contact Birthmark to request an application. The application should include a 1 page personal statement which should describe the applicants interests, academic background, volunteer/employment background, skills, goals in this internship, and schedule availability. After receiving the application, a Birthmark employee will contact the applicant to set up an informational meeting/interview.
Internship Description: The applicant is expected to provide at least 200 hours of service to Birthmark during the length of the internship, or approximately 15 hours of service per week. Birthmark will gladly sign any paperwork or provide any letters of support for academic or professional credit for the intern. Birthmark will also provide a nominal internship stipend of $600 per semester. In addition to financial compensation, the intern will be eligible to participate in Birthmark continuing education workshops for birth workers at no cost during the internship period.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Enrolled in a Masters program, such as Masters in Public Health
- Skilled in data entry, Mailchimp (and/or graphic design)
- Able to research evidence-based practice and clinical guidelines
- Able to work independently and be self-motivated
- Confident when interacting with community members and clients
- Experience coordinating events and/or programming
- Interest in community health, birth justice, and/or health administration
- Prior work/intern experience in an administrative or outreach capacity
- Spanish or Vietnamese language skills encouraged
Internship Hours and Location: The intern will be responsible for tracking and completing the necessary hours to gain credit for the internship. The intern is expected to be able to self-manage and meet time expectations. Although the intern can work remotely, the intern will be expected to complete most of her hours on site at the Birthmark office, at 3300 S Broad St, NOLA 70125. A desk, computer, and office supplies will be provided. A personal vehicle is not required. Ideally, the intern will be able to perform “front desk duty” at the clinic while doing her work on her computer.
Internship Projects: The intern will have the opportunity to shape a personal project that fits within his/her academic/professional/personal interests. Alongside this project, regular general tasks will be assigned. The intern will work in partnership with their assigned Birthmark advisor to create a work plan that meets the needs and goals of both the intern and Birthmark.
All interns are expected to:
- Attend monthly Collective Brunches (the first Sunday of each month, 10am-1pm)
- Check in with the Internship Advisor weekly in person or via email/text/phone.
- Attend any doula workshops, childbirth classes, or community events that the intern is able to.
Ongoing Tasks:
- Monthly Email Newsletters: The intern will use the information provided by Birthmark administrators to create an email newsletter in Mailchimp. The intern will have the newsletter approved before she sends it out each month. Ideas for newsletter content and any photos that the intern take are welcomed for the newsletter.
- Event Outreach: The intern will assist in advertising upcoming Birthmark events (mainly the Birth Worker Continuing Education Series). The intern can utilize social media to accomplish this task. The intern will also be responsible for advertising community events on her University campus to health professionals/students.
- Evidence Based Practice Reports: Select one article monthly to present at monthly Doula Brunch to maintain collective competency of current evidence based guidelines.
- General Administrative Tasks: The intern may be expected to answer phone calls or emails, update library check-out system, print/fax/copy, and to communicate with community members.
- Postpartum Doula Support: If the Intern is interested, she may join the Postpartum Doula schedule and provide direct client support, under supervision (Maximum 30% of internship hours total).
Projects: (The Intern and Internship Advisor will work together to identify which of these projects the Intern will take on (1-3 projects ONLY).
- Perinatal Data Registry: The intern will help us to manage the AABC/UARK birth center database in order to track the impact of our new Community Doula Pilot Program. We will be tracking the C-section rates, breastfeeding rates, length of postpartum stay, and low-birth weights of clients in this program. The intern will work closely with the Birthmark administrator and also coordinate with the doulas to gather and compile the necessary information about clients. This project will require occasional phone calls to previous clients to gather information about breastfeeding success. Milestones and goals for this project will be co-created by the Birthmark administrator and the intern.
- 2014 Year End Report: The intern will be in charge of designing, writing, and finalizing Birthmark’s first year end report for our clients, supporters, and community. The intern should begin thinking about the content of the year-end report from the beginning of her internship term. She should submit a layout of the report for approval by mid- October. The report should be submitted for editing by mid- November. The finalized report should be submitted by December 1st, 2013.
- NOLA Milk Bank Project Development: Birthmark aims to open the only Milk Bank in LA. This is a several year process with a great deal of research involved. The Fall 2014 Intern may advance and build upon the initial groundwork completed by the Summer 2013 Intern.
- Continuing Education Program Management: Poll birth workers for topics they are interested in learning more about. Identify community experts in these fields. Schedule, handle registration, and advertise for continuing education series. Conduct outreach to expand the participants into fields such as nursing and social work.
- Insurance Advocacy: The intern will help Birthmark to create an Insurance Advocacy campaign. The intern will research insurance advocacy tactics and come up with a list of possible strategies for Birthmark to employ. If the intern is interested in any of the tactics, she may begin executing some of them under supervision. This project may involve phone-calling, letter-writing, insurance form creation, and/or organizing of other doulas in the city.
Educational Opportunities:
- The intern will be able to attend (if she would like to):
- A Belly Talks Childbirth Education Intensive
- A Doulas 101 workshop (in September)
- A Birth Doula Training
- Welcome Baby OR Queer Parent Support Group meetings (Saturdays at 10am)
- She may also be able to attend advocacy and planning meetings with hospital administrators, obstetricians, community organizations, and other community members, depending on availability.
CONTACT: Dana Keren, Birthmark. 504-762-0210. birthmarkdoulas@gmail.com
