Scholarship
Honoring the women who shaped us. Empowering the doulas who will shape the future.
Your Calling. Their Legacy. Our Future.
Every doula begins somewhere. Sometimes all it takes is an opportunity, someone who believes in you, and the courage to answer a calling.
These scholarships are our way of honoring the women who believed in us while extending that same belief to those who feel called to support the next generation of mothers and families.
The Women Who Came Before Us
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A Legacy of Care
At Birth With Ease, we believe that the calling to support women through pregnancy, birth, and motherhood is part of something much larger than ourselves.
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A Legacy of Compassion
We are honored to offer two doula training scholarships named for two extraordinary women whose lives profoundly shaped our founder, Erica Paulson, and her journey into birth work.
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A Legacy of Connection
The Irene Palassis Queen Scholarship and the Eleanor Sulzmann Scholarship celebrate two different but equally powerful expressions of what it means to care for others
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Impact
Through these scholarships, we hope to remove financial barriers to doula education, create opportunities for aspiring birth workers, and carry forward the legacies of two women whose love and influence continue to touch lives.
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Change
Because the women who came before us help shape the women we become. And the care we give today becomes the legacy we leave tomorrow.
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Make a Difference
Your financial contribution equips us to implement comprehensive solutions that elevate community programs and expand essential services.
Women helping women
Eleanor Sulzmann Scholarship
Eleanor Sulzmann was my grandmother, my mentor, and one of my greatest supporters. She was also a mother, a World War II Army nurse, a labor and delivery nurse, and a woman whose extraordinary life was defined by service to others. She raised four children, and dedicated much of her professional life to nursing and public health.
But beyond her remarkable accomplishments, she was the woman who taught me what strength, resilience, service, and devotion to family truly looked like.
Her influence on my life and my work in maternal health is immeasurable.
The Eleanor Sulzmann Scholarship honors aspiring doulas who share her commitment to serving mothers, babies, families, and their communities. It celebrates those who understand that birth work is not simply a profession, but an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the health and well-being of others.
Through this scholarship, we honor Eleanor’s remarkable legacy while investing in a new generation of compassionate, knowledgeable birth professionals.
Because a life dedicated to caring for others leaves an impact that extends far beyond a single lifetime.
Veteran, L&D Nurse, Mother
Irene Palassis Queen Scholarship
Irene Palassis Queen was more than my best friend. She was my inspiration, my unwavering supporter, and, long before I understood what a doula was, she was mine.
Irene stood beside me during some of the most transformative moments of my life, including the birth of my first child and my journey toward a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC). Her belief in me helped me discover my own strength and ultimately inspired my calling to become a doula.
In many ways, all of my work as a doula exists because of Irene.
She taught me that supporting someone doesn’t always mean knowing what to say or having all the answers. Sometimes, the most powerful thing we can offer another person is our presence. To witness, to encourage, to believe, and to remain.
The Irene Palassis Queen Scholarship honors that extraordinary gift of connection. It celebrates aspiring doulas who recognize the transformative power of human relationships and feel called to walk alongside women during life’s most vulnerable and powerful moments.
Through this scholarship, Irene’s legacy of love, friendship, and unwavering support will continue through the hands and hearts of future doulas.
Because sometimes one woman believing in another can change the course of a life.
Artist, Mother, FriendApply for a Doula Training Scholarship
By completing this application, you will be considered for both the Irene Palassis Queen Memorial Scholarship, which covers full tuition, and the Eleanor Sulzmann Scholarship, which covers half of tuition for our Birth With Ease Foundations Doula Certification Training. Each scholarship honors the legacy and values of an extraordinary woman whose life embodied compassion, service, and the power of supporting others. Applicants are asked to respond to both essay questions, allowing us to learn more about your experiences, your calling to birth work, and the impact you hope to make. Scholarship recipients will be selected based on their responses and scholarship availability.