In 2022, HealthConnect One partnered with BirthMatters to host the first-ever Community Doula Week. Community Doula Week is a weeklong campaign to highlight the unique and life-saving support community doulas offer birthing people and their families. This campaign was dreamed up by Eboni Williams, a BirthMatters community-based doula serving her community in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This year #CDW2023 will:
- Elevate the importance of community doulas through public awareness
- Expand the critical support community doulas offer amidst a maternal health crisis.
- Elevate the role of doulas and the need for fair and sustainable pay for community doulas through community building
Community Doula Week will take place from March 29th – April 5th. This week will involve several activities and events inited to acknowledge the work of community doulas.
- Doula FAST Webinar
March 29, 2023 @ 12 pm ET - Instagram Live #CDW23 Kick-off
March 29, 2023 @ 1 pm ET - LinkedIn Poll & Chat: Share your self-care practices!
March 31, 2023 @ 1pm ET - Changing the Narrative: The Doula Medicaid Reimbursement Storybook
April 4, 2023 - Webinar: Expanding the Access to Community Doulas
April 5, 2023 @ 1pm ET
What do Community-Based Doulas do?
Community-based doulas provide culturally sensitive pregnancy and childbirth education, early linkage to health care and other services, labor coaching, breastfeeding promotion and counseling, and parenting education while encouraging parental attachment.
Why do we need a Community Doula Week when there’s a World Doula Week?
- Community-based doulas provide continuous support to mothers during labor and delivery, helping them cope with the physical and mental demands of giving birth.
- Drawing on their specialized training and lived experience to guide birthing persons through labor and delivery, community-based doulas provide emotional support and physical comfort that enhance the childbirth experience for the entire family.
- They also work with medical staff, including doctors, midwives, and nurses, to provide informational support to all birthing people they serve and help transition to parenthood.
- Community-based doulas have at least one commonality with the birthing person, which improves outcomes for underserved communities.
Download the #CDW2023 toolkit for more background information, suggested social media toolkits, and city and state proclamations guidance. For any questions or inquiries, please get in touch with comms@healthconnectone.org.