{"id":101676,"date":"2023-08-03T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T06:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=101676"},"modified":"2024-03-27T09:10:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T14:10:30","slug":"nebraska-medicine-partners-to-improve-black-maternal-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/08\/03\/nebraska-medicine-partners-to-improve-black-maternal-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska Medicine partners to improve Black maternal health"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Nebraska Medicine phlebotomist Artnetta Stearns was pregnant with her first child in 2020, her prenatal and birthing experience was difficult, complex and far from what she had imagined it would be. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Artnetta Stearns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Due to COVID-19 safety precautions in Texas, where she lived at the time, Stearns attended most of her ultrasounds and doctor\u2019s visits alone. She felt isolated, scared and like she didn\u2019t have a voice. Thankfully, her birthing facility lifted visitor restrictions two weeks before she gave birth, or she would have delivered the baby by herself without support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a very emotional and trying time,\u201d Stearns said. \u201cMy birthing experience wasn\u2019t great, and that\u2019s part of why I wanted to become a doula so that I can help make the experience positive for another mother.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stearns was among the first cohort of 40 Black women to complete the Doula Passage Program<\/a>, a new birth justice service by the local nonprofit I Be Black Girl<\/a> that was developed in collaboration with Nebraska Medicine and other local health systems. The DPP provides education, support and mentorship to community-based doulas of color, equipping them to support their clients.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are excited to curate this intentional space to support the learning and engagement of Black women into community birth work,\u201d said Ashlei Spivey, executive director of I Be Black Girl. \u201cThis program is a step towards ensuring Black pregnant people can not only live through their birth experiences but thrive.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Improving Black maternal health is vital<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason Nebraska Medicine participated in the DPP project is that Black patients experience unacceptably poor maternal health outcomes in the United States. Black women are three- to four-times more likely to die during or after delivery than white women.<\/a> Health care quality, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism and implicit bias are some of the factors that contribute to these disparities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investing in doulas is one way to bridge this gap in health equity. Doulas offer nonmedical support to their clients by giving them evidence-based information regarding birth and complications. They lead to fewer cesarean rates, emergency room visits, preterm births and more patient satisfaction and breastfeeding. Doulas help ensure their Black clients are seen, heard and receive the care they deserve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also important that they have access to doulas who look like them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a Black doula can help them feel safe, knowing that the person who is advocating for them understands their lived experiences and the challenges they face,\u201d said LaTrese Rideout, community outreach specialist at the UNMC Center for Reducing Health Disparities, who also was a member of the latest DPP cohort. \u201cOur women need people like us who are willing to be that support system for them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, only 10% of doulas<\/a> in the U.S. are Black women. The DPP aims to change that statistic and see more representation in the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are ways to help improve health equity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n