Doulas are birthing professionals who provide those who are pregnant with physical and emotional support before, during and after giving birth. Although doulas don’t work directly for the hospital, they stay connected with patients to help them throughout their pregnancy journey.
Increasing access to healthcare
Community’s partnership with the BLACK Wellness & Prosperity Center provides a more effective training experience for future doulas and provides Valley parents with increased access to care.
When the BLACK Wellness and Prosperity Center launched in 2019, CEO Shantay Davies-Balch said it was their goal to improve women’s health in the Valley and lower racial disparities.
“I really wanted to create an organization that could have this holistic approach to not only woman care, but also family care,” Davies-Balch said.
Training doulas improves the patient experience
Thanks to their time at Community Regional, doula trainees get firsthand experience being in the hospital room when a patient is ready to give birth. And the benefits go both ways.“This partnership has provided us with additional information that, as care providers, we weren’t always even aware of,” said Sarah Putman, director of Women and Newborn Health at Community Regional.
“[The doulas] can also help with some of the comorbidities that we see in pregnancy,” Putman added. “Education and support and teaching, eating habits … and newborn care.”
To learn more about the doula program and the BLACK Wellness & Prosperity Center, visit BLACKWPC.org.
See this story on MedWatch Today, Community's weekly, half-hour TV show produced in partnership with KSEE24 and CBS47.
