United And Guided is honored to serve as a partner in California’s newly selected Doula Learning and Action Collaborative Team, a statewide coalition chosen through a competitive process to join the Institute for Medicaid Innovation’s (IMI) National Doula Learning and Action Collaborative.
This initiative brings together leading community-based organizations, health plans, researchers, and birth equity advocates committed to strengthening equitable access to doula care for families of color enrolled in Medicaid.
California’s selection reflects years of powerful community leadership, cross-sector collaboration, and the growing recognition that culturally grounded doula support is essential to transforming maternal and infant health outcomes.
For United And Guided, this moment is deeply aligned with the heart of our work. Our Co-Ed Doula Model—a pioneering approach that pairs male and female doulas to support both the birthing parent and their partner—was built in response to a clear truth: families thrive when both parents are supported, prepared, and empowered before, during, and after birth.
Fathers and non-birthing partners are often overlooked in traditional perinatal care, despite playing a crucial role in emotional regulation, safety, advocacy, and the long-term wellbeing of the family. By integrating fatherhood support directly into doula care, United And Guided ensures that both caregivers enter parenthood connected, confident, and ready.
The IMI collaborative creates a unique opportunity to bring this model to a national conversation. As stated in the press release, community-based doulas are at the center of this work because their lived experience, cultural humility, and community connection make them uniquely effective. This aligns perfectly with United And Guided’s commitment to mobilizing Black and Brown doulas, fatherhood coaches, and community health workers who serve families with deep cultural insight and relational trust. Our doulas are not just supporting births—they are rebuilding ecosystems of care.
Through the Co-Ed Doula Model, fathers receive emotional coaching, education, advocacy skills, and space to process their fears and hopes. Mothers receive holistic, culturally grounded care. Families receive relational support that extends well beyond the delivery room. This mirrors the IMI collaborative’s statewide goals: expanding visibility of Medi-Cal doula benefits, strengthening provider collaboration, and generating real-time solutions that address barriers families face when accessing doula care.
By participating, United And Guided contributes on-the-ground insight about Black fatherhood engagement, co-parenting dynamics, and the power of dyadic, family-centered support.
Over the next three years, United And Guided will work alongside partners—including SisterWeb, Frontline Doulas, Children of the Sun, HElP, LA Care, and Health Net—to share lessons from our father-inclusive approach, troubleshoot statewide challenges, and push forward a shared agenda of birth equity. We believe that California’s leadership in this collaborative will shape how other states understand the role of doulas—not only as birth companions but as family stabilizers, mental health protectors, and catalysts for generational healing.
We are proud to stand in this work, shoulder to shoulder with organizations across the state and nation. Together, we are creating a future where every family has access to culturally affirming, father-inclusive, community-rooted doula care—because birth equity is family equity, and family equity must include fathers.
