New Jersey Doula Pilot Project

Uzazi Village, located in Kansas City, Missouri, provides comprehensive prenatal education; labor, birth, and breastfeeding support; postpartum care; and advocacy to women who are pregnant and living in zip codes that report the highest rates of Black maternal and infant death. Uzazi Village provides these services through the Sister Doula training model, also known as the Perinatal Community Health Worker project, which Uzazi Village developed while working with women in St. Louis. Uzazi Village also houses a walk-in breastfeeding clinic, an infant and toddler clothing closet, childbirth classes and support groups, a community garden, and the Chocolate Milk Café, which is specifically targeted to Black breastfeeding mothers.

In this project, Uzazi Village is replicating its Sister Doula model to train and prepare doulas in New Jersey to provide birthing support and education to high-risk mothers of color, with the aim of reducing infant mortality. Uzazi Village is working in partnership with three organizations: SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, Children’s Futures, and the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative.

The Uzazi Village Sister Doula training model is premised on the belief that the key to reducing Black infant mortality is through community-led and culturally-congruent maternal health solutions. Uzazi Village is one of only a few doula training programs in the country specifically focused on training doulas to serve women of color in their own communities.

Learn more about Uzazi Village.