Fort Worth/Dallas Birthing Project
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The Purpose | The Process | The Plan | Our Status


Aintie-Tia Program


Aintie-Tia Staff

So many pregnant women and teens have an aunt, “aintie” or tia, or mother, or grandmother, or sister that provides support to them during their pregnancy and after their babies are born.  Women helping women has been the way for so many.  But so often, along with the past down remedies that no one seems to know why or how they work, come the quietly spoken words that produce an unknowingly and innocent poor birth outcome or death of a baby.  We would like to educate those “Aintie-Tias” to better support the women and teens in our community, especially those with no support system.

 Our Aintie-Tia Program will provide

  • Pregnancy and childbirth education, including SIDS prevention training for all caregivers directly caring for babies and promotion of healthy habits during pregnancy.
  • Early linkage to health care and other services, including prenatal, post-partum and infant care services, with case management.
  •  Encourage parental attachment: talking, reading and playing with the baby, before and after birth.
  • Labor support: breathing and relaxation techniques; pain management; support for decision-making; explaining hospital procedures.
  • Breastfeeding promotion and support, before and after the birth.
  • Parent education: realistic expectations for developing babies and how to care for them.

The purpose of the Aintie-Tia Program is to provide education and support during pregnancy, labor and birth, breastfeeding and the first few months of a babies life through the support of trained women in the community where poor birth outcomes and infant mortality are prevalent.

Our pilot project will recruit and train 10 African-American women to serve as Aintie-Tias.  We will select and hire 6 women from this group to provide full-time support to about 150 high-risk women during their pregnancy and until their babies are 4 months old. 

Our Plan

We will be replicating the Chicago Health Connection's (CHC) Community-Based Doula Model, a national model which is currently used in about 17 sites in seven states around the country.  The CHC model establishes a culturally sensitive approach to pregnancy, childbirth, infant development and family support.  They will provide the curriculum and consulting services for up to 3 years.

 The Process

  1. Host a 2 hour stakeholder workshop to educate and address questions from service professionals, local health and social service organizations, financial donors, community residents, and health care providers.
  2. Host a 2.5 day training session for staff and trainers on the curriculum and how to effectively train and manage Aintie-Tias.
  3. Recruit and train in 20 3-hour sessions 10 potential Aintie-Tias providing a stipend for child care and transportation.
  4. Hire and support 2 to 6 Aintie-Tias to support a minimum of 50 high-risk pregnant women and teens lacking support.  They will provide prenatal education during pregnancy, labor support during the birthing process, and breastfeeding and infant care education and support up to 4 months after the birth of their healthy babies.
Our Collaboration
We are collaborating with the University of North Texas Health Science Center's (UNTHSC) Texas Center for Health Disparities which is funded by the EXPORT center grant from the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institute of Health (NIH).  One hundred twenty pregnant women will participate in a study where they will complete a questionnaire, then 60 will be assigned to an Aintie-Tia to receive emotional support, prenatal and parenting education, labor and delivery support, and breastfeeding support.  The participants must be over the age of 18, between gestational weeks 10 and 29 and African American.

The Amon Carter Foundation has also joined our efforts by funding 2 additional Aintie-Tias to support 50 women in Tarrant County.
 Our Status
Currently, 4 African American women have just been hired to serve as Aintie-Tias.  Check back with us in June to hear about their success!


"Women empowering women growing healthy babies."