A New Dawn

DAWN – the Doula-Assisted Wellness Network – began when parent educators in St. Louis, Missouri, decided to implement an innovative solution to address maternal and infant health for the families they serve. Show Me Strong Families, the Blue Ribbon affiliate and learning lab of Parents as Teachers National Center, took the initiative to cross-train parent educators as full-spectrum doulas, offering support to families throughout their pregnancy, birthing, and postpartum journey. 

The meaningful results that followed led to increased interest in the innovation, and in 2024, the Bezos Family Foundation granted Parents as Teachers National Center funding to scale the approach. A learning community of thirteen Parents as Teachers affiliates representing nine states are piloting the DAWN project, which offers two distinct training tracks. One track has cross-trained more than 15 parent educators as full-spectrum doulas – walking alongside pregnant families to ensure they have the medical knowledge, birthing strategies, and advocacy support, as well as follow-up care, to guide them through the perinatal period with stronger outcomes. The other track has created a professional development course that trains parent educators in doula principles and strategies applicable across the home visiting model, not just for birthing families – everything from slowing down and holding space to focused language and emotional advocacy.  

Participants meet to learn, share experiences, and co-develop resources to further the work. The goal of the three-year pilot project is to create guidance and resources available to all Parents as Teachers affiliates interested in doula integration. 

“Parents as Teachers is committed to serving the whole family from the start, and doula integration with home visiting enhances our ability to do that,” said Abby Edwards, a research and data specialist at Parents as Teachers National Center who helps lead the project. “This partnership and support empower families to make the birthing and parenting decisions that are best for them – creating safe, healthy, and nurturing environments and experiences as early as possible.” 

Over the course of this year, Abby is organizing in-person visits with participating affiliates to hear from everyone – not just the parent educators who have trained as doulas or completed the course but the other staff, leadership, state leaders, funders, and community partners supporting this work. Evaluating each affiliate’s experience of readiness, implementation, and sustainability will provide valuable input for the continued iteration of doula integration with home visiting, even after the pilot concludes. 

“The opportunity to connect with and learn from our Parents as Teachers affiliates has been invaluable,” Abby said. “It is evident that each affiliate has an unwavering commitment to the caregivers, children, and communities they partner with each and every day, and the integration of doulas within their home visiting program has provided them with another avenue to do that.”