DCHD Perinatal Community Health Worker and Doula Program Awards
Updated: October 1, 2024
DCHD Perinatal Community Health Worker and Doula Pilot Program Contracts Awarded
The Delaware County Health Department (DCHD) is excited to announce it has awarded two contracts to help reduce maternal health racial disparities in Delaware County.
"Addressing racial disparities in maternal health is a critical public health priority for Delaware County," said Interim Delaware County Health Director Lora Siegmann Werner. "These programs will help ensure that we are providing culturally and congruent community-based support during pregnancy and childbirth.”
Funding was awarded to The Foundation for Delaware County (the Foundation) to implement the "Delaware County Perinatal Doula Program: Growing and Diversifying the Doula Workforce" project. Doulas are trained professionals who provide physical, emotional, and informational support to mothers before, during, and after childbirth. They offer guidance on medical procedures, emotional and physical labor support, postpartum care, and infant care, helping to advocate for the best health outcomes for both mother and baby. Under this three-year project, the Foundation will establish the Delaware County Doula Collaborative, with the primary objectives of recruiting and training new doulas, supporting their state certification, and establishing a directory of practicing doulas. Community-based doulas become trusted members of their communities, offering vital support to underserved populations. The training provides participants with valuable education and certification, creating a pathway to rewarding careers and growing and diversifying the doula workforce across Delaware County.
This perinatal doula program is offered in partnership with the Delaware County Health Department and is grant-funded through the Employment and Training Administration of the US Department of Labor. The award provides 100% of total costs and totals $600,000.
“The Foundation’s maternal and child health programs including WIC, Healthy Start, and Nurse-Family Partnership have been delivering supportive services in the Delaware County community for more than thirty years. We know that it takes a village of support to have a healthy pregnancy and good maternal and birth outcomes. Providing a platform that offers a directory of doula services will help Delco families find doulas who understand the unique challenges, experiences, fears, and concerns faced by birthing people and their families. We are grateful to the Delaware County Health Department for recognizing this need and look forward to launching the directory in early 2025.” Joanne Craig, Chief Impact Officer, The Foundation for Delaware County. Funding was awarded to Temple University to implement the "Delaware County Birth Companion Program: Developing an Academic Birth Companion Program, 2024–2027.”
This program will train nursing and health sciences students to become birth companions and will expand access to perinatal support services for Delaware County residents. Under DCHD’s oversight, this program will achieve this goal through an academic-practice partnership with Temple University and Main Line Health System, particularly Bryn Mawr and Riddle Hospitals. Temple University will oversee the training of students over three cohorts—Summer 2025, Summer 2026, and Fall 2026. In addition to coursework and simulation-based education in Temple's new state-of-the-art Integrative Simulation Center, students who complete the course may be paired to support a Delco birthing person to provide pre-natal, post-natal, and labor support. Nursing students have a role in mitigating bias and social determinants of health in caring for birthing people and their families. Labor support has been shown to reduce the risk of cesarean sections up to 39%, reduce the need for pain medication, improve Apgar scores, improve the birth experience, and shorten labor by an average of 41 minutes. Therefore, we anticipate positive maternal outcomes for the clients served through our birth companion certificate program.
"We are very excited by this unique opportunity to partner with the Delaware County Health Department and serve birthing families in the local community! We find that many pregnant individuals lack support during their pregnancy journey, some of which will birth alone. Our hope is that our birth companions will fill the identified gap in care by providing informational and emotional support to families throughout the pregnancy, labor, and postpartum period. Our curriculum will prepare our students by teaching them important skills through lectures, simulations, and clinical experiences. We will also focus on understanding bias, racism, and social determinants of health and their impact on the perinatal experience. We view our program as a way of addressing the disparities that exist in maternal and infant health outcomes and look forward to beginning our collaboration." Lauren Johnson, Assistant Professor and Grant Co-Principal Investigator, Temple University’s College of Public Health Department of Nursing.
This academic birth companion program is offered in partnership with the Delaware County Health Department and is funded by a grant from the Employment and Training Administration of the US Department of Labor. The award provides 100% of total costs and totals $200,000.
For more information and assistance, the Delaware County Health Department Wellness Line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition to responding to phone calls, the Wellness Line also responds to email inquiries.
Phone: (484) 276-2100 (Available 24/7)
Email: DelcoWellness@co.delaware.pa.us
