Huston-Tillotson, Blue Cross and Blue Shield creating new doula, midwife program
Huston-Tillotson University is starting a new program to train and increase the number of doulas, certified midwives and lactation consultants in Central Texas.
With a $763,500 one-year grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, the historically Black college is adding training programs for these health care workers, as well as doing research into best practices, and providing better connections between these providers and local women.
The Boldly BLUE initiative, which stands for birthing, learning, understanding and empowering, is one of four Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas grants from its expanded maternal health Special Beginnings Initiative; the other three are in the Dallas area, Houston and the Rio Grande Valley.
Two laws from this past Texas legislative session have increased the focus on doulas, who assist women during pregnancy, birth and afterwards, and postpartum care for women. Doulas can now serve as case managers under a program for pregnant women and children.
Once Texas fills out its plan with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and that plan is approved, women who qualify will have 12 months of Medicaid after having a baby, instead of only two months. That approval is expected to happen early next year, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Why is increasing the birthing care workforce needed?
The partnership between the insurance company, the university and community groups such as Black Mamas ATX and Healing Hands Community Doula Project, was a year in the making, but more data on the disparity of maternal outcomes in Texas have emphasized the need for expanding the birthing care workforce in Central Texas.
"Texas is increasingly a dangerous place to be a mom and to be a baby," said Dr. Angela Moemeka, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas' chief medical officer of Texas Medicaid. "We know the rates of maternal mortality and morbidity and the rates especially of serious maternal morbidity are worsening and that this disparity weighs heavily on Black moms and Black women."
Kelenne Blake, executive director of the nonprofit Black Mamas ATX, which has connected more than 150 women locally to doulas, points to statistics like these: In Texas, African American people are 2.3 times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts, and in Travis County, they are 2.5 times more likely.
"We refuse to sit idly by while our whole bodies and the life of our children and our families are at stake," Blake said. Under this partnership with Huston-Tillotson, Black Mamas ATX will be doing research on the use of doulas and health outcomes.
Huston-Tillotson wanted to bring this program to its campus because of its ability to innovate, because of the population it educates and its connection to the community.
"The only pains that a mother-to-be should experience during her pregnancy should be the choosing of the name for her new baby," said Melva Wallace, Huston-Tillotson University president. "It is our goal to make sure that their pregnancies are joyful and memorable as they welcome their newborns into the world."
How do these birthing professionals help improve health rates?
"Doulas have been shown across the country ... to impact not just pregnancy health but postpartum health for mom and her baby and to be able to move the disparity on health outcomes," Moemeka said. "The work of doulas cannot be overstated."
Amanda Masino, Huston-Tillotson chair of national sciences and associate professor of biology, points to statistics:
A 30% to 40% reduction in C-sections for women who use a certified midwife as well as reductions in preterm births and pregnancy loss
The network expansion part of the program will connect women who have Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas Medicaid with birthing professionals who have gone through the Boldly BLUE program.
How will the training work?
The first cohort of 30 students will begin training in the doula program in October. It is free for the doulas, and they also will receive a stipend. The doulas also will be trained to be community health workers, which means they will have the ability to connect families to other services and help them navigate the medical system.
In addition to doula training and community health care worker training, the doula program will include business training to make it a financially viable career.
"Doulas must strike a balance between providing affordable and accessible care while ensuring fair compensation for their services," said Dr. Rohan Thompson, Huston-Tillotson dean of the school of business and technology. He wants them to be able to act as entrepreneurs.
The doula program is open to anyone who wants to become a doula or is already a doula but wants additional training. People can apply at htu.edu/blue.
The training will be done over a few weeks. A second cohort is expected to launch in spring.
The midwife and lactation consultant programs are still being developed and are expected to launch next fall, Masino said.
What happens after this first year?
The funding is for one year, but Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas plans to continue the program after it gets data on how the program is working and how it affects maternal and fetal health in Central Texas.
"We're going to learn what's working and what's not working," said Chevalier DeShay, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas' senior director of network management. "Too many assumptions are being made. That's why Black women are dying."
"This funding and this program will have impact, not just for one year or a decade, but for generations to come," Thompson said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Huston-Tillotson University-starting new doula, midwife program
