Doula Support Could Improve Health Care & Reduce Costs

Well, this one kind of seems like a no-brainer and no big surprise, but read the story on NPR if you need more of a reason to get a doula! An excerpt is below:

" Previous research has shown lower rates of cesarean births, more satisfaction from mothers and better newborn Apgar scores — a measure of a baby's condition at birth — among mothers who use doula care. In fact, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says in guidelines for safe prevention of cesarean births that doula care is "probably underutilized."

This is the first study, however, to show a reduction in preterm births and a net savings for public insurance. Cesarean births — about a third of all U.S. births — cost about twice as much as vaginal births, and the 1 in 10 U.S. infants born preterm (before 37 weeks) incur medical costs 10 times greater than those of full-term infants."

Doulas for ALL

To read the full report on insurance coverage of doula care, click here. Thank you to Choices in Childbirth and Childbirth Connection for putting this long overdue information together. Here's the intro:

"Doula support is a proven strategy to improve the quality of maternity care – leading to better health outcomes and a more satisfying experience of care.  But too many women still cannot afford doula support, despite its proven benefits.

Choices in Childbirth and Childbirth Connection, a program of the National Partnership for Women & Families, have been working together on a joint issue brief, “Overdue: Medicaid and Private Insurance Coverage of Doula Care.” The brief documents how widespread access to doula support would improve outcomes for women and babies, enhance women’s experience of care, and reduce the cost of care. Doula support is a high-value form of care that warrants widespread Medicaid and private insurance coverage and the brief identifies a variety of strategies to achieve this. These range from pregnant women and advocates making the case to individual insurance plans, to new pathways to obtain Medicaid coverage of doulas as non-licensed practitioners, to designation as a recommended preventive service by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and asking Congress to act to ensure that doula care is a universally covered service under Medicaid."