BFUSA Welcomes New Board Member, LaToshia Rouse
How does someone go from being an accountant/comptroller at a large nonprofit organization to being an accomplished birth and postpartum doula, lactation consultant, and now the newest member of Baby-Friendly USA’s Board of Directors?
That’s the unusual and distinctive life path of LaToshia Rouse, CD/CPD, SpBCPE.
“I was nowhere near healthcare,” says LaToshia. “But having my children brought me to this work.”
LaToshia is the mother of a 15-year-old son born at 36 weeks; and of triplets (two girls and one boy), now 12 years old, born at 26 weeks. Going through the process of seeking care for the triplets during her pregnancy, having them born early, and enduring a NICU stay of four-and-a-half months gave her a deep understanding of the healthcare system’s shortcomings and its many unmet patient needs. This led her to begin exploring how she might help make the journey better for other expectant mothers and families.
“Kids change your life,” she says with a wry smile.
When her triplets were around two years old, she began to volunteer at her local hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, helping out in the NICU and working with mothers and families. This led to work with the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina, as well as the American Board of Pediatrics.
“Along the way, I kept learning about all of these gaps in the birthing experience,” she says, “and I decided I wanted to be a gap filler. I realized that what would have mattered most to me in my personal experiences would have been continuous support from pregnancy to postpartum. That’s why I decided to become a professional doula.”
Sometime later, she decided to add the lactation training to her skill set.
“This work tends to create its own path because you become what your community needs,” she says. “Once I became a doula, almost everyone I worked with needed lactation support.”
An IBCLC to whom she referred patients started saying, “These are your people and you should be the one to help them.” So LaToshia began to learn under her tutelage and ultimately took a training.
“Now I’m able to provide lactation support, whether they’re my doula clients or not,” she says.
LaToshia celebrated her 100th birth in August of 2023 and now has nearly 140 births under her belt. She feels personally connected to each one.
“These are my families and my kiddos, my Doula Babies,” she says.
LaToshia is very excited to be part of the BFUSA organization.
“I love quality improvement work, hospital initiatives, changing culture, and trying to make healthcare better,” she says. “That’s what my story is about. Then I bring the experience of being a doula, a lactation consultant, and an educator in the perinatal world, and it all fits together.”
But interestingly, when LaToshia was asked which board committee she would like to serve on, she returned to her roots and requested to be on the Finance Committee.
We are thrilled to have her unique experience and perspective on the BFUSA Board.
