What is a doula in layman’s terms? I doula is someone who stands in the gap for you when you are pregnant. They are like that friend you had when you were younger that was always there to support you through everything, that’s pretty much what a doula is in layman’s terms. Professionally what is a doula? A doula is a non-medical birth companion who can help you before, during and after childbirth. Doulas provides support, pain management, childbirth education and advocacy.
According to Axios, community-based efforts are expanding access to doula care, with encouraging results.
A program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, lowered the preterm birth rate for participating Black women to 8.9% between 2019 and 2022, according to data shared first with Axios. That’s roughly half the state average for Black women.
The program, run through the Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative, also cut low birth weight instances down 55%.
The results add to a growing body of research showing doulas can improve birthing experiences and outcomes.
Health insurers and state health officials have reached out about replicating the program in other parts of the country, said Kimberly Butler of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, which is the program’s primary funder.
Between the lines: Companies have also expressed more interest in covering doulas in their health benefits as options for OB-GYN care and birthing centers for their workforces dwindle, said Elizabeth Mitchell, CEO of Purchaser Business Group on Health, which represents companies like Amazon, Boeing and Wells Fargo.
Last summer, Walmart added doula reimbursement to health coverage. CVS and Microsoft both added a doula benefit in 2021.
“Now a lot of our members want to start paying for doulas. We’re actually even exploring a partnership to train doulas because the workforce constraints are so significant,” Mitchell said.
The big picture: The U.S. maternal mortality rate has shot up from 20.1 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019 to 32.9 in 2021, according to the CDC. The rate is more than double that for Black women, at 69.9.
Doula advocates say they can help fill in important gaps in a maternal care landscape that’s been worsening for decades.
Poor reimbursement and staffing constraints have led birthing units to close and OB-GYNs to relocate. At least 89 obstetric units closed in rural hospitals between 2015 and 2019, per the American Hospital Association, and many more have closed since.
That problem is likely worsening, the New York Times recently reported, as OB-GYNs leave or give up practicing in states that have passed strict anti-abortion measures in the past year.
The March of Dimes estimates up to 6.9 million women live in areas with low or no access to care.
