Doula Lab to Host Baby Supplies and Back-to-School Giveaways

BELLEVILLE - Doula Lab will offer a baby supplies giveaway and back-to-school event.

Located in Belleville, Doula Lab is a pregnancy resource center that offers education and support for pregnant people, postpartum care, and family resources. As they prepare to move to a new location, they will offer a baby supplies giveaway from 3–6 p.m. on July 10 and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 12, 2025, at their current spot at 6400 West Main Street Suite 1D in Belleville, followed by a back-to-school kickoff and community baby shower on Aug. 9, 2025, at Belleville West High School.

“We want to make it an all-in-one-stop-shop,” said executive director Charity Bean. “When we put these events on, we’re thinking of the entire family dynamic as well as what all resources do people actually need. We wanted to make sure we not only get fun for the entire family experience, but also people leave feeling like the entire dynamic has been served.”

The baby supplies giveaways on July 10 and July 12 are open to any caregiver who needs baby supplies. Bean said they have plenty of clothing items as well as a few cases of diapers, pull-ups, a highchair, pregnancy pillow, and other “essential things” that have been donated to the organization.

On Aug. 9, the “Under the Big Top Baby Shower + Back-to-School Kickoff” event invites the entire community to come out and get the supplies and services they need. In addition to baby supplies and back-to-school items, there will also be vendors onsite offering free haircuts, health services like dental exams and physicals, diapers and formula, mental health and lactation support, and more. Kids can also enjoy bounce houses, games and raffles.

Bean emphasized that these events aim to support caregivers and families. She hopes they can provide resources to the entire family, no matter what your dynamic is. She encourages people who are raising kids to come out and get the support they need before the school year starts.

“Sometimes when we say community baby showers, people will only assume that you either have to be pregnant or just had a baby to come,” she explained. “That actually ends up eliminating a large amount of the population, because there are some people, like aunts, uncles, maybe grandparents who are taking care of children, and they may assume that they’re not supposed to come. And then also we were thinking, why keep having multiple events when we can try to serve the whole family dynamic if we do a mixture?”

In addition to these upcoming events, Doula Lab offers a variety of classes and services for pregnant people and their families. Bean said St. Clair County is in a maternal health desert, and the organization aims to provide resources so people don’t have to drive to St. Louis to receive pregnancy support and postpartum care.

Their goal is to also create empowering birth experiences for new parents. Bean emphasized that pregnancy isn’t a “sickness,” but it has been “medicalized.” She hopes Doula Lab can provide alternative options and resources to help expectant parents through the process of pregnancy, birth and postpartum care.

“The bare minimum, literally, is you and your baby going home alive. You’re supposed to. That’s what we expect,” she added. “That’s why I say that’s the bare minimum, but creating empowered birth experiences, helping people, no matter what their risk is, feel like I was loved, I was a part of this, not just feeling like a patient…You’re going generally for one of the happiest times of your life. This has been really medicalized, if I could put it like that, rather than being an experience of joy and happiness and helping create memories for these families that’s really going to set the tone for parenthood.”

Doula Lab aims to offer these resources for St. Clair parents and beyond. For more information about Doula Lab, including their upcoming events, visit their official Facebook page. To learn more about the “Under the Big Top Baby Shower + Back-to-School Kickoff” event, visit the official Facebook event page.

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