CoCo Doulas 

All Births are Not Created Equal

Concerned about poor birthing experiences in Contra Costa County? We certainly are. Free doula services and community-based doula training work together to achieve better care to avoid birthing complications for families most at risk.

  • A trained professional who is a trusted member of the community they serve, providing culturally sensitive physical, emotional, and informational support to a mother before, during, and shortly after childbirth.  This support helps the birthing families achieve the healthiest, most satisfying experience possible.

  • CoCo Doulas Community-Based Doula Program is both a doula service and a doula training program in Contra Costa County operated through a partnership with Contra Costa County's Perinatal Equity Initiative (PEI).  Starting a family can be an exciting and joyous time, but this is not always the case for Black moms and birthing people because of racial disparities in maternal and infant health. Supporting the doula-positive community is part of our vision for healthy births and maternal experiences for Black families in Contra Costa County.

  • It is a two-year community-based fellowship program hosted in collaboration with Contra Costa County Health Services staff and community health practitioners.  New graduates of our training program provide doula support to Black birthing mothers and families throughout Contra Costa County.


    The training program includes:

    • Learning from Health Connect One community-based doula curriculum

    • 10 weeks/2 days a week. 

    • 80 hours of homework and training

    • Observation of a clinical birth and prenatal/breastfeeding class requirement, and prenatal and postpartum observation

    If you are interested in applying for our next CoCo Doula training cohort, please send us a message, and we will contact you when we begin our next training series.

  • Our Doula Services are offered at No-Cost, providing

    • Prenatal Education and Support

    • Labor and Delivery Preparation and Support

    • Postpartum Support for up to 3 months.

    • Access and referrals to community resources for the mom/birthing person, the partner, and the baby.

  • Welcome your little one into the world with the warm sweet care of the CoCo Doulas. 

    To sign up, please complete this form.

  • Are you interested in referring your clients for CoCo Doulas Services? 

    TO REFER your client, click here

CoCo Doula Client Story

Why Birth Justice Matters?

  • Black babies are more than twice as likely to be born with a low birth weight than infants of other racial or ethnic groups.

  • Fetal and infant deaths are more than twice that for Black households

  • Black moms have a higher rate of maternal complications than other racial or ethnic groups.

The quality of birthing health care can be abysmal for Black birthing families, due to systemic racism and poverty. Imagine the stress, financial instability, and poor nutrition of some members of our region, and how it adds to a poor birthing experience.

We stand in solidarity with the #DeliverBlackJustice campaign to end racism and birth justice for Black families. Learn more about this campaign at DeliverBlackJustice.org.

For more information contact: 
Lauren McCollins | CoCo Doulas Program Manager
lmccollins@fierceadvocates.org
510-232-5812 ext. 407