Kansas City leaders and local nonprofit Uzazi Village are experimenting with a new program that will provide low-income pregnant women with doulas.
KC and Uzazi leaders are hoping to address the high infant and maternal mortality rates in poor Black and brown communities with the doula initiative. Doulas are trained non-medical experts that help guide and support women during pregnancy and labor. Part of a doula’s job is to help educate mothers on what to expect during labor and how to cope with pain.
“This is unique,” says Hakima Payne, founder and CEO of Uzazi Village, of the one-year pilot program. “I’m hoping that if we do really, really well at this it serves as a model for other cities.”
The Kansas City Health Department has allocated $250,000 toward the program and will provide doula services for any Kansas City resident who either is or is planning to become pregnant. Applicants must live in Kansas City and earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, which for a family of four would be $120,000 a year. From there, the program will prioritize applicants from high-need ZIP codes to ensure the benefits of a doula reach those who need it most.
Infant and maternal mortality rates among Black and brown communities is nothing short of a health crisis and one that Uzazi Village has spent over a decade working to address in KC, Payne says.
“This is the city’s attempt to get some traction on this health issue,” says Payne, who believes it will make a difference.
Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States—nearly 70 per 100,000 live births, which is three times the rate of white women. In fact, Missouri maternal mortality rates are worse than the national average, with the state ranking 21st for highest maternal mortality rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Marvia Jones, director of the Kansas City Health Department, offered up some sobering facts at the KC Doula Initiative’s press conference. “In the state of Missouri, an average of 60 women die every year … from childbirth, and 85 percent of those deaths are preventable,” Jones said, which is one reason her office is so intent on supporting the initiative.
Research has proven that doulas are effective tools in improving health outcomes of mothers and infants, especially within communities that have been historically neglected by the health care system. Doulas have been crucial in preventing miscommunications between their clients and health care providers during a very vulnerable time for many pregnant women.
Doula services provided by Uzazi Village through the program include three prenatal visits, attendance at childbirth and three postpartum doula visits, all to ensure mothers are cared for during all stages of pregnancy. The organization also provides valuable services like childbirth education, a lactation clinic and other resources for mothers through their clinic, separate from the program.
“The doula program we are starting city-wide as a pilot project will help us to make sure that we are supporting our mothers [and] we’re supporting our babies,” Kansas City Councilwoman Melissa Robinson said at a press conference.
