Doulas spotlighted in Chicago

Black doulas in Chicago were spotlighted this weekend as trusted support people helping families navigate pregnancy, birth and the weeks after delivery. (chicago.suntimes.com) On Saturday, April 11, pregnant and postpartum parents gathered at Garfield Park Fieldhouse on the West Side for a community baby shower tied to Global Black Doula Day and the opening day of Black Maternal Health Week. The event was hosted by West Side United and Sankofa Wellness Village. (chicago.suntimes.com) The Sun-Times centered doula Zetanefert Zipewtu of Our Mothers’ Light Birth and Baby Village, who said she has done the work for nearly 15 years after first supporting a close friend through pregnancy. She described doulas as “gap filler[s]” who provide information, emotional support and physical care before and after birth. (chicago.suntimes.com) A doula is not a doctor or midwife; the role is nonclinical support during pregnancy, labor and postpartum recovery. An Illinois workforce report describes doulas as trained professionals who provide continuous physical, emotional and informational support shortly before, during and after childbirth. (birthjusticeillinois.org) The Chicago event was framed around a sharp racial gap in outcomes. The Illinois Department of Public Health data cited by the Sun-Times said Black women in Illinois are more than twice as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes, and Black Illinoisans had the state’s highest maternal mortality rate at 78 deaths per 100,000 live births. (chicago.suntimes.com) State officials have been building policy around that gap. In September 2025, Governor J.B. Pritzker, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton and the Illinois Department of Public Health released the Illinois Birth Equity Blueprint, a statewide roadmap that calls for stronger maternal care infrastructure, provider support and better access to birthing services. (dph.illinois.gov) Chicago-area health systems have also been putting money into doula access. Cook County Health said in January 2025 that it would launch a $1 million pilot program, hire 10 doulas and offer free doula care to pregnant patients as part of its effort to narrow the maternal health gap between Black and white mothers. (news.wttw.com) That push has reached neighborhood programs too. WTTW reported on April 6, 2026, that the South Side Healthy Community Organization and the Chicago Birthworks Collective were offering free doula services to uninsured mothers and Medicaid patients on the South Side, including prenatal visits, birth preparation, labor support and postpartum care. (news.wttw.com) Black Maternal Health Week itself runs every year from April 11 through April 17, according to the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, which founded the campaign. The group’s 2026 toolkit says the week is meant to build awareness, activism and community around the experiences of Black mothers and birthing people. (blackmamasmatter.org) In Chicago, that national campaign showed up as a local baby shower, resource fair and face-to-face outreach. The through line in the reporting was continuity: families looking for someone who knows the system, understands their community and stays with them after the hospital visit ends. (chicago.suntimes.com)