HealthConnect One Takes "Doulas Are for Every Body" National, Expanding Award-Winning Birth Equity Campaign to Five Cities
After 3.5 million impressions, an ADDY Award, and a mayoral proclamation in Rochester, HC One brings its proven campaign to Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and the Carolinas
CHICAGO, July 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthConnect One (HC One), the national birth equity nonprofit marking 40 years of advancing community-based doula care across 36 states and 175 sites, today announced the national expansion of "Doulas Are for Every Body," its flagship public service campaign, to five cities, building on a documented pilot in Rochester, New York, and expanding to Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and the Carolinas.
The expansion is powered by one of the most documented community health campaign results in the birth equity sector. Over six months, the Rochester pilot generated 3.5 million digital impressions across Meta, Google, and Roku and drove a 257% increase in doula questionnaire downloads — families moving from seeing the message to seeking a doula. The campaign earned an ADDY Award for creative excellence, and on June 18, the City of Rochester and Monroe County proclaimed "Doulas Are for Every Body Day."
"This isn't a theory. It already worked," said Dr. Twylla Dillion, President & CEO of HealthConnect One. "Rochester showed us that when you meet families where they are — in their ZIP codes, in their language, with a doula who looks like them — they don't just see the ad. They click through, they ask about insurance and cost, and they find their doula. That is the model we are taking to every city."
Why now: a doula is a blood pressure intervention
In the campaign's headquarters market, the stakes are measurable. Maternal hypertension in Illinois has increased 103% in a single decade, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. In Chicago, 14.1% of all births involve maternal hypertension. Among Black women in Illinois, the rate rises to 16.8% — the highest of any group — and when hypertension is present, the risk of severe maternal morbidity is 3.8 times higher.
In that context, a doula is not a wellness amenity. A doula is a blood pressure intervention — watching for warning signs, catching complications early, and getting families to care in time.
The model
In each city, the campaign deploys three connected elements:
A Mobile Doula Lounge brings the campaign directly into underserved neighborhoods. A staffed Doula Lounge provides peer matching, support, and warm referral into hospital systems and Medicaid-reimbursed doula services. A digital PSA campaign, produced with Truth Collective, targets the ZIP codes surrounding each community pop-up.
The model includes blood pressure education and readings delivered in partnership with local hospitals and nurses, and community-based doula receptions held the night before each pop-up to build doula-to-doula trust and community-driven staffing.
City by city
Chicago, HC One's headquarters, will host 10 two-day Mobile Unit pop-ups at community anchors including the African Festival of the Arts at Washington Park, the Marillac House Community Baby Shower in East Garfield Park, and the Food Truck Rodeo at Marquette Park. Community partners include Chicago Birthworks Collective, BA|NIA, Chicago Black Doula Alliance, NDoula Community Alliance, Trinity Advocate, and Melanated Group Midwifery. The Chicago campaign projects more than 5,000 community members engaged directly and more than 100,000 reached through the digital PSA.
Detroit builds on HC One's DoulaREADI™ work — the organization's implementation methodology for integrating community doulas into hospital systems — already underway with health system partners.
Milwaukee anchors the campaign in HC One's newest Hub, now in development.
In the Carolinas, HC One COO Janessa Mondestin leads community partnership development alongside National Advocacy Manager Tiwani Oseni, extending the organization's growing strategic footprint across the Southeast.
Rochester continues as the campaign's proven anchor and learning site.
The first 1,000 days
"Doulas Are for Every Body" is HC One's FY2027 strategic flagship. The expanded campaign reaches beyond the birth moment to the full first 1,000 days: prenatal care, birth, postpartum support, early parenting, early relational health, infant nutrition, and lactation.
The timing reflects a policy landscape HC One helped build: 75% of states are now actively reimbursing or implementing Medicaid doula reimbursement, the product of four decades of advocacy infrastructure.
Get involved
Corporate partners can support the campaign's five-city expansion through city activation sponsorships, employee engagement at community pop-ups, and CSR partnerships aligned with maternal health equity. Partnership inquiries: [email protected].
Doulas and community health workers can join the campaign, share the PSA, or explore community and health system resources at doulasareforeverybody.org. To support HC One's work in its 40th anniversary year, visit healthconnectone.org/donate.
About HealthConnect One
HealthConnect One is the national leader in advancing community-based doula care and birth equity, working across 36 states and 175 sites. Founded in 1986, HC One marks its 40th year of ensuring that every family has access to respectful, community-rooted support during pregnancy, birth, and the first 1,000 days.
Media contact: Nina Dillion, Executive Assistant, HealthConnect One — [email protected] for interviews available with Dr. Twylla Dillion, President & CEO.
SOURCE HealthConnect One
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