Other Titles
Rapid Presentation Round
Abstract
The project is a Doctor of Nursing practice quality improvement project addressing the barriers to collaboration between BIPOC prenatal patients, clinicians, and doulas. Maternal mortality and morbidity are a crisis in our nation with black women dying three times more than their white counterparts (Harris, n.d.). BIPOC prenatal patients are suffering from maternal mortality and morbidity. Stemming from such as historical racism, racial inequalities, implicit bias and structural determinants of health. The Doula can give cultural congruent care, impower BIPOC prenatal patients, while providing emotional and physical support. The utilization of a doula as continuous labor support is shown to decrease the rate of cesarean births, decrease low-birth weights, increase initiation of breastfeeding as well as shorter duration of labor, and decrease the usage of analgesia during birth (Ogunwole et al., 2022). However, many BIPOC patients have been unable to afford Doula services. The passing of California SB65 solved the financial burden by covering Doula services for Medi-Cal recipients. Yet, collaborative barriers still exist. The project aims to assess the barrier to clinician collaboration with community-based doulas (CBD), having clinicians communicate with BIPOC prenatal patients about CBD services, and subsequently determine the utilization of doula services in BIPOC patients. The purpose of this DNP project is to improve clinician apprehension of the evidence-based practice of CBD utilization and improvement in maternal mortality and morbidity in BIPOC populations: causing clinicians to increase patient literacy of CBD and utilization. This project is a two-part study to assess and improve clinician collaborative barriers with CBD and assess BIPOC patients’ utilization of doula services in a combined retrospective and prospective cohort. It asks the question in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) patients receiving prenatal care, does the implementation of a doula toolkit for clinicians compared to current practice impact patient requests for doula services during childbirth?
Notes
References:
Adams, C., & Curtin-Bowen, M. (2021). Countervailing powers in the labor room: The doula-doctor relationship in the United States. Social Science and Medicine, 285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114296
Approaches to limit intervention during labor and birth. (2024). ACOG. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2019/02/approaches-to-limit-intervention-during-labor-and-birth
Collins, C., Bai, R., Brown, P., Bronson, C., & Farmer, C. (2023). Black women's experiences with professional accompaniment at prenatal appointments. Ethnicity and Health, 28(1), 61–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2022.2027880
Cooper Owens, D., & Felt, S. (2019). Black maternal and infant health: Historical legacies of slavery. American Journal of Public Health, 109(10). https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305243
Davis, D. (2019). Obstetric racism: The racial politics of pregnancy, labor and birthing. Medical Anthropology, 38(7), 560–573. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2018.1549389
Fisherman, S., Hummer, R., Sierra, G., Hargrove, T., Powers, D., & Rogers, R. (2020). Race/ethnicity, maternal education attainment, and infant mortality in the United States. Biodemography Social Biology, 66(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/19485565.2020.1793659
Harris, K. (n.d.). White House brief for addressing the maternal health crisis. White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Maternal-Health-Blueprint.pdf
Josiah, N., Russell, N., Devaughn, L., Dorcelly, N., Charles, M., & Shoola, H. (2023). Implicit bias, neuroscience and reproductive health amid increasing maternal mortality rates among black birthing women. Nursing Open, 10(9). https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1759
Kang, E., Stowe, N., Burton, K., & Ritchwood, T. (2024). Characterizing the utilization of doula support services among birthing people of color in the United States: A scoping review. BMC Public Health, 24(1588), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19093-6
Knocke, K., Chappel, A., Sugar, S., De Lew, N., & Sommers, B. (2022). Doula care and maternal health: An evidence review. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation: Issue Brief, 1–14.
Ogunwole, S., Bennett, W., Williams, A., & Bower, K. (2022). Community-based Doulas and covid-19: Addressing structural and institutional barriers to maternal health equity. Perspective on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 52(4), 199–204.
Preventing pregnancy-related deaths [CDC Maternal Mortality Prevention]. (2024, September 25). CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-mortality/preventing-pregnancy-related-deaths/index.html#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20pregnancy%2Drelated,makes%20an%20unrelated%20condition%20worse.
Thomas, K., Quist, S., Peprah, S., Riley, K., Mittal, P., & Nguyen, B. (2023). The experiences of black community-based doulas as they mitigate systems of racism: A qualitative study. Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, 68(4), 466–472. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.13493
Sigma Membership
Mu Nu
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quality Improvement
Research Approach
Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice
Recommended Citation
Chatman, Tasha, "Bridging the Gap of BIPOC Patients, Clinicians, and Doulas" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 102.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/102
Conference Name
Patient Clinician Collaborations, BIPOC Prenatal Patients, Doulas
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Bridging the Gap of BIPOC Patients, Clinicians, and Doulas
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
The project is a Doctor of Nursing practice quality improvement project addressing the barriers to collaboration between BIPOC prenatal patients, clinicians, and doulas. Maternal mortality and morbidity are a crisis in our nation with black women dying three times more than their white counterparts (Harris, n.d.). BIPOC prenatal patients are suffering from maternal mortality and morbidity. Stemming from such as historical racism, racial inequalities, implicit bias and structural determinants of health. The Doula can give cultural congruent care, impower BIPOC prenatal patients, while providing emotional and physical support. The utilization of a doula as continuous labor support is shown to decrease the rate of cesarean births, decrease low-birth weights, increase initiation of breastfeeding as well as shorter duration of labor, and decrease the usage of analgesia during birth (Ogunwole et al., 2022). However, many BIPOC patients have been unable to afford Doula services. The passing of California SB65 solved the financial burden by covering Doula services for Medi-Cal recipients. Yet, collaborative barriers still exist. The project aims to assess the barrier to clinician collaboration with community-based doulas (CBD), having clinicians communicate with BIPOC prenatal patients about CBD services, and subsequently determine the utilization of doula services in BIPOC patients. The purpose of this DNP project is to improve clinician apprehension of the evidence-based practice of CBD utilization and improvement in maternal mortality and morbidity in BIPOC populations: causing clinicians to increase patient literacy of CBD and utilization. This project is a two-part study to assess and improve clinician collaborative barriers with CBD and assess BIPOC patients’ utilization of doula services in a combined retrospective and prospective cohort. It asks the question in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) patients receiving prenatal care, does the implementation of a doula toolkit for clinicians compared to current practice impact patient requests for doula services during childbirth?
Description
The project assesses the barrier to clinician collaboration with CBD for prenatal BIPOC patients. Addressing the research question in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) patients receiving prenatal care: Does the implementation of a doula toolkit for clinicians, compared to current practice, impact patient requests for doula services during childbirth?