Zone 3: Answering the Call

🌀 About this zone

continuing a legacy of birth justice

The grandmother on the porch, the adoptive matron—our communities have always had people who support birthing parents.

Rooted in History, Grounded in Community

From grand midwives who provided care when Black communities were excluded from medical systems to generations of women who supported one another through birth, this work has always been a form of resistance. Community doulas carry this legacy forward, ensuring that birth remains a shared responsibility—a collective act of care, where the strength of the village surrounds and uplifts every birthing parent.

Bridging Past and Present in Birth Work

Today’s community doulas see their work as an extension of the practices of Black granny midwives and other ancestral caregivers. They continue to advocate for safer, more respectful care, connecting their work to past efforts to support breastfeeding, perineal care, and alternatives to harmful medical interventions.

A Growing Movement, A Lasting Mission

Community doulas are birth workers on a lifelong mission to strengthen and heal their communities—one birth at a time. They are part of a growing movement that fills a vital role in the circle of care that every birthing person deserves.

📷 Photo captions

Images clockwise from top left:

  1. A community baby shower hosted at St Joseph’s Medical brings together doulas, health staff, and expecting families
  2. Juju always travels with her hospital bag, a suitcase of doula supplies, and a pair of scrubs.
  3. Ahshayla first learned from her grandmother, and now lives in that same family home with her partner and children as she continues a legacy supporting her community.
  4. Lizzy educates expecting parents at a prenatal, postpartum, nutrition, and mental wellness workshop at social service support organization Oasis—A Haven for Women and Children, in Patterson.
  5. Harmony helps collect and donate baby/maternity supplies to local doula organization Ancient Song.
  6. Alaina shows her generational birthing outfit connecting her to her own lineage of birth workers.

📺 Display slideshow

These pictures are of trainees and facilitators of PMCH Community Doula training program. They are part of the next generation of community doulas ready to serve New Jersey’s communities.

🎧 Meet a doula trainee: Patricia - A journey from isolation to advocacy

🎧 Meet a doula trainee: Ramata - Becoming the change that is needed

🎧 Additional audio stories

Toshira - Breaking cycles and building care for the next generation

Sadé - Language is care — and doulas make it heard

Yareni - Relearning, reconnecting, and building sisterhood through doula work

🔎 Learn more: Black Grand Midwives

📜 The Historical Significance of Doulas and Midwives

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Explore the deep-rooted legacy of Black doulas and midwives, and their enduring impact on birth, community, and healing traditions in the United States.

📈 Delivering Better Care: Midwifery Practice in New Jersey

The Burke Foundation and New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute

This detailed report examines midwifery practice across New Jersey and offers recommendations for improving maternal health through midwife-led models of care.

🎥 All My Babies: A Midwife’s Own Story

Library of Congress

A landmark 1952 educational film featuring Mary Francis Hill Coley, a Black midwife in Georgia, offering a powerful glimpse into community-centered birth care and the vital role of Black midwives in American history.