Doula Care for At-Risk Women

January 2021 - June 2023

Richard King Mellon Foundation

As part of Phase II of the Infant Mortality Project, this research project focused on the creation of a protocol for providing doula support for women in need. Doula care was provided for over fifty women and data on the impact of doula care was collected and analyzed with the goal of building evidence that supports the inclusion of doula services as an accepted standard of care for all women at risk.

Healthy Start provided doula support for over fifty women during the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum periods, promoting adaptive change in behavior that impacts the outcomes of pregnancies and helping women and men build supportive relationships with family members and friends, while linking family members with other health and human services. Healthy Start also contributed to the process and outcomes evaluation for the doula services and the systems coordination.