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Role of doulas is changing
Multiple factors contribute to the Black maternal and infant mortality rate including underlying health conditions, systemic racism and sometimes implicit bias, according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy group once known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The stereotype that Black women have a higher pain tolerance may result in practitioners not taking their concerns as seriously, according to some research.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a study that concluded the presence of a doula decreased the likelihood of a cesarean birth and the use of an epidural.
Since the Medicaid expansion, Community Health and Social Services Center in Detroit will begin offering doula services for the first time in years, after cutting the program due to lack of funding.
“Doulas are specialized community health workers, and they focus on the pregnant woman leading up to becoming pregnant, through the pregnancy, through delivery and up until the first year of the baby’s life,” said Dr. Felix Valbuena, chief executive officer for the center.
“We’ve been struggling over the years to get insurance companies to recognize that value and reimburse us for that.”
Women who have a high-risk pregnancy or other complications will be prioritized for doula services. The center will begin accepting clients in July.
The center also has programs for expecting mothers that address many of the social determinants that contribute to high fatality rates, including free transportation to clients.
During the first 28 weeks of the pregnancy, women visit the doula every four weeks. After the baby is born, doulas will check in on the mother and the baby during the same visit because so many new mothers miss their first postnatal check up, Valbuena said.
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