Community Spotlight: Joel Austin, Daddy University LLC

In 1997, Joel Austin—fatherhood and parenting education expert and NJBEFA Community Advisory Committee (CAC) member—recognized a critical gap in how fathers were included in conversations about the perinatal and parenthood experience and decided to take action. Today, Austin is a nationally recognized authority on fatherhood education, support, and training and a leading voice in advancing positive parenting practices within families and communities.

How did Daddy University begin?

Daddy University was an idea that came about in 1997 and was formalized in 2004. 

I want to say it was joyous—there was some lightning and a vision came down with smoke, but I was actually really feeling belittled.

When my uncles and my father had their children, labor and delivery were still not integrated. They talked about being in a separate room. That's the way we had designed our maternal health system. When it was my turn, I wanted to be different. I was at all the visits and appointments. I had a Bachelor's degree at the time, I owned a house, and I was newly married. And at the end, I learned a word I had never heard before: Cesarean.

The doctors told me they were going to do a Cesarean around 45 minutes before the actual Cesarean. My wife at the time was not dilating. People kept coming in and saying things, but nobody explained anything to me. It was a very scary time, and I walked out of the hospital with two people who needed almost around the clock care—and me with no instruction. 

After that ordeal, I started asking more questions, looking for more information, and thinking, “I'm not going to sit around feeling that I am not smart enough to learn about birth and what goes on.” So, I started learning and sharing this information, and Daddy University was built from there.


What are Daddy University’s top priorities today?

Redefining and reforming our systems of care to include paternal health and wellness,to provide positive solutions to maternal and infant wellness.

I became a certified postpartum doula in 2020 and also started a program called Doulos4Dads in 2021, so both mom and dad can be educated when it comes to birthing.

I remember going to an OB-GYN appointment with my then wife, and they asked me to wait in the waiting room. After the doctor asked me to come into the room and started explaining some of the things she had found. I remember asking, “Why did I have to wait in the waiting room?” She said it was for “Mom's privacy.” I remember asking, “Do you know how babies are born?!”

I wish I had been invited inside. If I had been, I would have had so much more compassion. I would have rushed to get whatever my wife’s favorite meal was—I would have hugged on her more, but I treated it like it was just an in and out visit. 

A lot of times new dads and partners can come off as a “problem.” Our number one focus at Daddy University is to help people see that they can actually be a solution to some of the ailments of maternal care and in infant health.


Daddy University has been active for over 20 years. When you think about the journey so far, what makes you most proud?

We were contracted by the head of the Healthy Start program in Mississippi. They wanted to educate fathers more, so they could be more of a help. I came up with the idea of having a baby shower for dads, and one thing that made me proud was when fathers came to me saying they were proud to find out their role was not just providership, but of support.

I love seeing the change in people's faces, the “Aha” moments, and the empowerment of “I got this.” I tell all my dads that during the pregnancy, they are in charge—of getting clean water, making sure Mom gets to the visits, of her nutrition, of her exercise—and their chest gets big. We tell them they’re in charge, because our slogan is Because I'm having a baby too.

How did you get involved with NJBEFA?

I was approached by a great lady named Cecile Edwards. I think she saw something I had done that ran in the paper, and she asked me to be a part of the CAC.

I do a whole presentation on the history of maternal health, and I start off with the separation. It wasn't until somewhere around 1980 that married fathers were able to actually go upstairs and sit throughout the entire labor and delivery. It wasn't that long ago, and I know there are some people in maternal health that still feel as though it should be a separate space. So, I did have to give it thought.

But I love being on this side and being able to read, and advise, and give back.I am the only male on on the CAC, but I'm here to try to save lives, and my dream is that one day, birthing mothers will be able to focus just on birthing—not water intake, not the bills, not how much of such and such—they will be surrounded by family care and support so they can just focus on birthing and their bodies. That's my dream.

What does prioritizing your well-being look like for you—and how do you talk about it with the dads you work with?

For a long time I thought that I had to go through personal struggle. I did not want to ever be called the worst word—lazy. Now, wellness for me is absolute. My saying with these strong providers is that even Superman has an ice castle that he flies to to get away and take a break—and if you think you're better than that, you're wrong. 

Wellness is about understanding what has come in and doing something to let it out. I know what calms me. Water calms me—I'll run to it. I also love having friends around. I take the entire Sunday off. It's just one day out of 6, but I'm an advocate for it as a doula.

I'm getting my new mothers to sleep regularly, and my secret weapon is the new dad or the partner. We teach them early on to chest feed, how to use the extra breast milk, how to burp, how to swaddle. We teach them how to do all of these things, because if you can feed, burp, check for gas and get the baby back down for a nap, that gives Mom a half hour to 45 minutes—and I know you may want to buy her jewels, but 45 minutes for a new mom is the best gift ever!

Joel Austin is the Founder, President, and CEO of Daddy University, Inc., the nation’s longest-running male-focused parenting company, and Doulos4Dads, the country’s first all-male doula program. He also serves as executive director of The School of Parent Education.

To learn more about Joel’s work, start here.