Erykah Badu compares her work as end-of-life doula to 'art'
Singer Erykah Badu has compared her work as an end-of-life doula to "art" insisting she feels a calling to provide a service to those facing death.
Erykah Badu has compared her work as an end-of-life doula to "art".
The 55-year-old singer started working as a birthing doula in 2011 and she has since been helping others who are facing death and she believes she is providing a much-needed service which is similar to performing in front of an audience at her concerts.
She told the Guardian newspaper: "[I am] at the bedsides of people who are passing, going the other way – I want to provide the exact same peace [as a birthing doula] ...
"It’s another art for me. I feel the same way when I’m servicing people on stage, singing. That’s doula work, too. I have the same thing in mind – I want the room to become one living, breathing organism."
Erykah also explained she became a birthing doula by accident after agreeing to stay with a friend while she went through labour and it lasted several days.
She said: "I didn’t know her labour was going to be 52 hours – she soldiered through this thing, and after the 52nd hour, I realised I had not been to sleep.
"I felt fine. I was the support system, I was the restaurant, and I didn’t have any fear. That’s when I realised, I am the welcoming committee – my contract was with that baby."
Erykah acted as a doula for her friend Teyana Taylor and the One Battle After Another star later credited the singer with helping her through a very difficult pregnancy when she was expecting her second child.
Teyana told Entertainment Tonight: "I think it was dope to let everybody know what the plan was because her energy is just everything. Because I'm so heavy on meditation, she's been so supportive ... So it's just like, it's amazing."
Erykah previously told Pitchfork she doesn't charge for her doula services and she was exploring training to become a certified midwife. She said: "It just kind of happens.
"I don’t plan how many people I work with. I don’t charge anything. It’s for my own learning, and I just enjoy being the welcoming committee ...
"I started studying to be a doula and got my certification in 2011 and now I’m in training to become a midwife. I’m almost there and before I know it I’ll be able to open my own practice, if that’s what I desire."
