Our Work
Taking action & sharing knowledge for birth equity
HealthConnect One applies an equity-focused approach to our work. We aim to improve pregnancy, birth, and early parenting experiences for communities that have been historically marginalized and inadequately served.
While our maternal child health outcomes are abysmal, the US spends more than any other developed country in the world on health care. That's why we're focused on training, mobilizing, and connecting Community Health Workers for in-home birthing and parenting support in the communities that need it most.
Our Approach
Train
We're training a national network of birth equity advocates to support the wellbeing of mothers and babies in marginalized communities.
Mobilize
Mobilizing doulas, breastfeeding peer counselors and other Community Health Workers is at the heart of our work.
Connect
We connect Black, Brown, and indigenous families with community-based doulas, breastfeeding counselors, and community health workers for true peer-to-peer support.
The impact
The Work We Do
Birth Worker
Training
We're locally, nationally, and internationally recognized for training community health workers and birth equity advocates using our evidence-based models.
Advocating
FOR BIRTH JUSTICE
With the support and groundwork of birth equity advocates in our network, we continue to fight for fair pay for birth workers, reproductive justice, and thriving sustainable communities for future generations.
We take positions on issues that advance maternal and child health, support community health workers, and educate legislators and regulators at the local, state, and federal levels.
Advancing Research
We collaborate with higher education institutions on community-based research that advances maternal child health outcomes and builds healthy communities. Together, we co-create a knowledge base that advances the health of birthing families and of the community itself.
Recent Projects
First Food Equity Project
The First Food Equity Project aims to improve the initiation and duration of breastfeeding rates among low-income communities by expanding community-based, peer-to-peer support models that diversify both the maternal and child health workforces rooted in these communities.
Doula Learning
Collaborative
We're partnering with the New Jersey Department of Public Health to increase the number of diverse community doulas across the state with the goal of reducing New Jersey's maternal mortality by 50 percent over five years and eliminating racial disparities in birth outcomes.
Interested in your own custom program? Contact us today!
"Healthy Baby Network's Board and Staff are proud to partner with HealthConnect One, Finger Lakes Community Health, and the Finger Lakes Performing Provider System to innovate our Black Doula Collaborative as a hub for training Black Women to be Doulas and continuing to expand their work with health providers to bring lifesaving care and support for vulnerable Black pregnant and parenting women and their families. THIS is how we reduce and work to eliminate preventable Black Maternal Mortality and Morbidity in Rochester, NYS, and beyond."
Sherita Bullock, Executive Director of Healthy Baby Network