Pat Welch saw a need for doulas when she herself gave birth, and she also knew many women could not afford one. She received a grant and founded the Turtle Women's Project, a culturally specific program providing free doulas for American Indian mothers. It operates out of the American Indian Family Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the five years since it was started, the project has grown and merged with other local doula programs that it helped inspire. The Turtle Women now work through the Family Center Community Doula Program, which also offers culturally specific services for Hmong, Latina, African, and African American women. The doula program serves several hundred mothers every year, and the Turtle Women work with 10 to 20 of those women. The Turtle women are all American Indian, and they understand the needs of the mothers they serve. Smudging, or cleansing a room with sage, as well as playing traditional music can help make the birth a ceremonial experience for mothers. The Turtle Women can also help bridge communication barriers between mainstream American and American Indian cultures so birth mothers do not have to worry about them. They also can help women speak up for themselves with the medical authorities. They usually meet with a pregnant woman several times before birth, and the program offers culturally specific prenatal classes. The preparation incorporates cultural issues such as traditional methods of breastfeeding and keeping babies close, and it discusses the roles for the father and other family members according to tribe. Many of the mothers who use the services face poverty, domestic violence, social isolation, chemical abuse, or being adolescent parents. Their pregnancies are considered to be 'at risk.' The doulas can refer families to other staff at the American Family Center who can help with such issues. 'Amid all these challenges, giving birth can be an opportunity for women to connect with their own strengths, and then to carry that feeling into their daily lives. Doing that, Welch said, can have implications that can extend beyond just one birth, and even beyond one generation, because it helps women reclaim a legacy of power that centuries of history have tried to take away. They can then pass that legacy along to their children.' Doula Amanza Lopez, who is now studying midwifery, says that 'by working with mothers, she's helping to counteract the violence that indigenous people have faced for centuries.' Welch says that women who use the services of a Turtle Woman have babies with better birth weights, the mothers are more likely to breastfeed, and cesarean sections are less common. Many also gain a sense of empowerment. (LMC) (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)