Trenton Community Doula Project

Children’s Futures is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve health and development outcomes for children and their families. It collaborates with schools, social service providers, health care agencies, faith institutions, civic associations, employers, and others around school-readiness and success strategies that have the greatest positive impact on children’s immediate health needs, as well as long-term development. Children’s Futures also convenes conferences and forums, provides training and technical assistance to area agencies, produces reports on the health and well-being of children, and advocates for policy changes most like to positively affect disadvantaged families.

This project, a collaborative effort with the DOH, is a component of the DOH’s statewide Healthy Women Healthy Families initiative. It supports efforts to address the high rate of Black infant mortality in New Jersey by developing a community doula program that serves Camden and Atlantic City.  As a first step in this effort, SNJPC recruits women living in these communities to become doulas. Once selected, the doulas attend an eight-day training using the Uzazi Village Perinatal Doula Curriculum, which focuses on the experiences of women of color. Working with Community Health Workers (CHWs), the doulas reach out and engage women who are pregnant, accompany them to three prenatal appointments and the labor and delivery. In addition, the CHWs have two in-person visits with each woman during the postpartum period, providing them with support and information about local resources and services that promote child and family wellness.

Children’s Future is one of three organizations participating in this initiative. The other two organizations are:

• SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
• Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative

Learn more about Children’s Futures.