As the founder of InvolvedDad, Shon Hart has significant experience working with fathers who already have children. A new “Daddy as a Doula” program in partnership with Genesee Healthy Start set to launch in January 2026 will allow InvolvedDad to focus on prevention rather than reaction.
“I’m excited that we are able to tap into a different realm,” Hart said. “We’ve always been about empowerment as it relates to the father-child relationship and always working from a place of solving a problem, like through a crisis. This allows us to be on the more fun side, we are teaching you something, it’s like prevention. We get to not only show them how to be a doula and learn these doula techniques, but we are also in a position where we can coach them on being a new dad. A lot of our fathers that we get, they already have a few years in. They already practice some unhealthy habits. So now with this, we can prevent some of those practices that they believe to be best for their child when they may not be the healthiest.”
‘Daddy as a Doula’ is a free educational program designed to support fathers and expectant fathers during pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting. The program, supported through funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, provides hands-on training to help dads better support their partners during labor and delivery, recognize when additional help is needed, ask informed questions to care providers, and gain practical infant care skills.
The class is led by a trained doula instructor and takes place over eight hours, split across two half days. Participants receive one-on-one support as needed, lunch during training, and special gifts at the conclusion of the program. The initiative aims to strengthen family outcomes by equipping fathers with knowledge, confidence, and practical tools to be active caregivers from birth and beyond. Dates and times for the program are still to be determined, but interested dads can fill out an application form online.
Porsha Black, director of community health promotion & education for the Genesee County Health Department, said the county’s Healthy Start program offers several programs related to maternal-child health, but they created this program to increase ways to have fathers involved in the prenatal care process.
“We want to give them an opportunity to learn a multitude of things, mainly just ways to support their partners during the last trimester of pregnancy, the labor, birth, and postpartum period,” Black said. “What we know and what we’ve learned is that fathers, when it comes to labor and delivery, often feel like they really don’t have a part in that phase of childbirth. But we want fathers to be able to know techniques to support their partner while they’re in labor, like things doulas would do, like help them with positioning, help them with breathing techniques, help to advocate for them, help them to understand informed consent, and things like that.”
Black also noted that many men go through a wide range of emotions during the pregnancy and birthing process, and the program will help them understand and regulate those feelings.
“We want to be able to help dad help himself,” Black said. “Not just helping mom all the time, but also helping him understand what kind of things he may be going through when it comes to the end of pregnancy and after the baby is born. Men sometimes, they’re also facing like a sort of postpartum depression because they don’t know where they fit in after the baby is born or when mom is in that last trimester of pregnancy. Her emotions are high and her hormones are high, and it can be a stressful time. So we want to be able to give them some tools and tips for themselves.”
The potential to help improve relationship and communication skills is something Hart is excited about as the program gets ready to launch.
“It’s something that they’re (both parents) learning together, so anything that they can do together that they learn together will strengthen that bond,” Hart said. “So many times, especially young couples, they don’t know what effective communication is. It can be combative. And so here is something they get to learn together and the only focus is the child, the only focus is what they both want which is a healthy birth. It’s very intentional where they both can come in without knowing much and walk out with both learning a lot. So, a really cool thing about it is that it can help bridge and strengthen that relationship.”
InvolvedDad will serve as the lead partner agency in the program, which Hart calls a “no-brainer” since InvolvedDad already offers several programs to teach and mentor men as fathers. Healthy Start will refer men to InvolvedDad, and they’ll participate in training. Hart said Shonte’ Terhune-Smith will be the lead trainer in the program.
Hart is also excited because ‘Daddy as a Doula’ will offer men in the program new skills, which he says leads to growth in confidence.
“Having this new skillset now allows us to equip these guys to where now, if he sees something wrong, he can question it or he can advocate for his partner because now he has some of the baseline education a professional who’s helping to deliver this baby would have,” Hart said. “So now dad feels more confident, feels more inclined to be a voice for his partner.”
Both Hart and Black hope that confidence and increased information among fathers in the community helps reduce Genesee County’s high infant mortality rate. According to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data, that rate has fluctuated from nearly 7-9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births over the past several years, among the highest for any county in Michigan.
“I’m hoping that number one, it increases father engagement and helps fathers feel more involved and not so much like an outsider,” Black said. “I hope that this program also works to decrease maternal and infant mortality because, you know, that’s a huge problem in our community. We know that when fathers are involved, moms have a healthier pregnancy and babies are healthier.”
The program is the latest in a long line of partnerships between Healthy Start and InvolvedDad, something Hart is grateful for.
“They have been a huge support to our growth,” Hart said. “They have taught us a lot about community, about partnership, about engaging fathers. They have been a strong advocate and a great partner to InvolvedDad that helped us get to where we are today.”
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