The Cooperative, a maternal and child health consortium that offers maternal, fetal newborn care and resources throughout South Jersey’s seven counties, hosted its first Doula Community Day in Washington Lake Park on August 22.
This one-of-a-kind event was created by the Cooperative to highlight doulas in the area and share resources for planning or expecting individuals, families with newborns, doulas and healthcare providers alike.
The amphitheater was filled with tables and activities, ranging from resources on how to find pre- and post-natal care providers in the area to interactive doula demonstrations. Mixed in was plenty of fun, too: Yoga sessions, face and belly painting, lawn games, soft play area for babies, music and food trucks.
“I was really hoping to have an event where anyone can come out and get to know what a doula is. That way, later down the line, it will be something in (someone’s) mind when they decide to have a child and might need a doula,” said Ambrial Ugaji, director of maternal and infant health priorities at the Cooperative.
Members of the Cooperative and Abounding Love Doula Services who volunteered at Doula Community Day.
“We framed it as a family event for everyone to come out and for doulas to connect with the community, but also for doulas to connect with each other (and other providers),” she said.
Doulas are trained professionals “who provide physical, emotional, and informational support before, during, and after childbirth,” according to the New Jersey Doula Learning Collaborative (NJDLC), a program partnered with the Cooperative that Ugaji oversees. Doulas receive intensive, hands-on training to ensure they are suited to help pregnant people and families. Their services provide help beyond standard obstetrician care.
“We took a holistic approach to the providers that we (had) available. We wanted it to be something where it’s like, ‘These are all of the people that could be part of your village, that could be part of your care team during pregnancy and postpartum,’” Ugaji said. “We wanted to consider people that you may not think of.”
Chiropractors, acupuncturists, pelvic floor therapists and mental health specialists were some of the different care providers present at Doula Community Day with information to give out to attendees. Ugaji said these different kinds of care providers are often overlooked or not well-known, despite being beneficial to birthgivers and newborns.
For many people in South Jersey, the access to maternity care is limited. Ugaji said there are maternity care deserts in the southern counties, especially in Cumberland, Camden and Salem counties. Some areas do not have a nearby birth hospital or maternal doctors, making access to care more restrictive, as it may require further transportation that many people do not have access to or cannot afford.
“In Camden County, we have higher rates of infant mortality than the national average of mortality rates,” Ugaji said.
According to the CDC, the 2025 infant mortality rate is about 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 births in the United States. In Camden and some areas of South Jersey, the rate is at least 1.5 times higher than the national average.
The Black infant and maternal mortality rates are also high in South Jersey, Ugaji said, which is why the Cooperative works to provide resources for those specifically in marginalized communities and high-risk families.
By having a doula, some of which can be sponsored or paid for through Medicaid, the overall maternal health can be worked on prior, during, and after a birth to help save the lives of the birthgivers and infants.
NJDLC was launched in 2024 and officially began in 2025. The growing program, which has trained 32 doulas so far, provides immersive doula training, connects the students with people giving birth, and helps them grow after completing the program to secure clients and keep up their skills. The Cooperative offers training and mentorship to the doulas in training at no cost through its work with NJDLC.
At the Doula Community Day event, hundreds of attendees learned more about how to become a doula themselves through NJDLC, consider their own care teams and just enjoy a day of wellness and relaxation.
At Doula Community Day at Washington Lake Park on August 22, there were free yoga and pelvic floor physical therapy sessions taught by local providers.
