Equitable Access to Doula Care Project
March of Dimes Mom and Baby Action Network (M-BAN) Expanding equitable access to doula services Action Learning Community (ALC)
Multi-year funding opportunity overview and call for applications
Application deadline: November 24, 2024, 5 p.m. PT
Notification of Awards: February 10, 2025
Awarded CBOs begin engagement: April 2025
March of Dimes, with generous support from the CVS Health Foundation, is continuing implementation of a multi-year Action Learning Community (ALC) initiative with the second of two planned cohorts of Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and their collaborating maternity care hospital partners. Participating teams from three communities will be competitively selected to join Cohort 2, scheduled to run over the course of 30-months broken into two distinct phases, with Phase 1 planned to launch in in the second quarter of 2025, pending execution of agreements.
Participating CBOs and collaborating maternity care system partners will receive grant awards to support project activities focused on:
- Growing, diversifying, and supporting the local community-based doula1 workforce (CBOs only)
- Strengthening and/or establishing the local doula hub2 model (CBOs only)
- Improving collaboration between community-based doulas and their local maternity care system partner through increased collaboration, adoption of best practices, and troubleshooting barriers (CBOs and collaborating hospitals)
CBO and hospital partner teams located in and providing services in the following states ONLY are eligible: California, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York.
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[1] A doula whose cultural background reflects that of the community served and may have specialized expertise and training to support people with more complex socio-economic needs.
[2] Self-organizing groups of doulas who have come together in the form of collectives, cooperatives, agencies, or programs within larger organizations, to support each other with organized recruitment, training, mentoring, practice management, marketing, scheduling, contracting, billing and coding, and other related activities to help alleviate and share the administrative burden of running an independent small business.
Project background
Doulas are trained professionals who provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to moms and families during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Research suggests that doulas can reduce health disparities by serving as an additional support for families and as an intermediary between patients and their providers.
Research shows that doula care effectively improves one’s labor and delivery experience while also reducing stress, anxiety, and pain by promoting self-efficacy and confidence. An observational study concluded that doula-assisted moms were four times less likely to have a low birth weight (LBW) baby, two times less likely to experience birthing complications involving themselves or their baby, and significantly more likely to initiate breastfeeding.
There is growing evidence examining the association between doula care and improvements in maternal health. However, access to doula care has historically been limited in the US, with greater utilization among higher-income individuals. Doulas practicing within their communities are known as community-based doulas. Community-based doulas serve as a resource to families by providing culturally congruent and culturally responsive support to families, and are prepared to address language and cultural gaps. Improving access to and utilization of community-based doula services has the potential to benefit many families at risk of experiencing higher rates of unequal treatment and poor birth outcomes.
Within numerous regions of the United States, the availability and accessibility of doula support services are limited, leading to a range of challenges when it comes to scaling access to and utilization of community-based doula support. Challenges include low consumer awareness and demand, barriers to the training and retention of community-based doulas, operational and financial burdens faced by independent doulas, and occasional barriers faced by doulas within clinical environments resulting in suboptimal collaboration and reduced patient benefits.
March of Dimes is partnering with CVS Health Foundation to address these challenges and enhance the reach and impact of doula support services, with a focus on geographies where payment plans are already in place and the opportunity to improve equitable outcomes is greatest.
