Dad Doula and nonprofit team up to improve maternal and infant care

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A doula is typically a woman who provides guidance and support to pregnant women during labor. It’s not every day that you hear about a daddy doula, but James Hogue is hoping to change that.

His purpose in this role isn’t so much to help the mom, but to prepare the dad. If you ask Hogue how he got into birth work, he’ll tell you the pathway was birthed out of experience- pun intended.

“We had a plan for a completely natural home birth,” said Hogue.

“However, about six to eight weeks prior to our expected due date, we experienced complications.”

Plans then changed from at home to a hospital. Hogue used what he learned from his doula and other experts to advocate for his wife during a trying time.

After his son’s birth, he started giving advice to his friends before deciding to be trained as a birth doula.

“Like I tell everybody, I am not trying to show up to anyone’s birth,” said Hogue.

“I use that training to pour into other fathers so they can fully show up.”

Hogue launched his nonprofit, Fathers Assisting Mothers ( FAM ), two years ago. His story caught Hakima Payne’s ear.

“We’re looking to improve and or eliminate the disparities of black maternal and infant health both here in Kansas City, our nation and abroad,” said Payne, CEO of Uzazi Village , another nonprofit here in KC.

According to the CDC, black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women.

“What I wanted to make sure, because I am a husband to a black wife, was that I was able to show up and be there for her,” said Hogue.

“Be that voice and make sure you received the care she deserved.”

With a mission in common, Hogue now also helps at the Uzazi Village as well, mentoring fathers.

“We find that men are often sideline in the process,” said Payne.

“They’re not readily included and we wanted to change that dynamic.”

The hope is that parents will feel confident enough to not need help the second time around.

“Those are the experiences that we truly enjoy when we aren’t needed,” said Hogue.

“When someone else is able to walk through it and then come back and pour into others. That’s amazing for us.”

Visit this link for more information about Fathers Assisting Mothers.

Visit this link for more information about Uzazi Village.

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