The West Virginia Perinatal Partnership was awarded a $132,000 grant from the UniCare Health Plan of West Virginia. These funds will expand the reach of doula services offered to pregnant and postpartum women in underserved and vulnerable communities in West Virginia.
This grant will help improve pregnancy outcomes for mothers and babies by educating doulas who live, and will serve, in the same communities. Additionally, this new project will enhance and expand services to improve maternal and infant health disparities.
A doula is a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a mother before, during and shortly after childbirth to help her achieve the healthiest, most satisfying experience possible.
This grant will help improve pregnancy outcomes for mothers and babies by educating doulas who live, and will serve, in the same communities. Additionally, this new project will enhance and expand services to improve maternal and infant health disparities.
What are the benefits of doula services?
Birth doulas provide support in some of the following ways:
Offering continuous labor support by helping the mother stay comfortable by providing comforting touch and guidance on breathing, relaxation, movement, and positioning.
Immediately after birth, the doula assists the mother with skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding the baby.
Birth doulas can also help by encouraging respectful communication between families and hospital staff.
Doulas help families to feel supported, easing the emotional experience of birth and also helping to create a space where the hormones of labor can work at their best.
Doulas are trained to help families connect with evidence-based resources so they can ask great questions and make informed decisions about their births.
“Giving birth is transformative. It is a defining moment, one that the mother will remember forever. A doula gives the parents confidence, guidance, and continuous labor support all of which has been shown to improve outcomes.”
– Shauna Lively, EdD, RN, LCCE
Director, RMOMS Project and Co-Director of the Unicare Doula Project