Professional Development Award: Community Doula Outcomes from Trenton, NJ: Hospital-Community workshops

Because New Jersey ranks near the bottom among all US states for maternal/infant health outcomes (46th worst for maternal mortality, Nurture NJ Strategic Plan), CHSofNJ would aim these workshops on increasing provider knowledge and understanding of the health and DEI benefits of doula-provider partnerships.  The goal of the Community Doula Outcomes from Trenton, NJ: A Hospital-Community Partnership Toward Equity and Better Birth Outcomes workshops is to increase 50-100 medical providers’ (OB-GYNs, midwives, labor & delivery nurses, childbirth educators, lactation consultants, prenatal clinic staff) knowledge and understanding of community doulas’ role and the outcomes they support with low-income mothers; and the benefits of professional collaboration between community doulas and medical providers in the hospital and prenatal clinic settings. Grounded in a national literature review of similar interventions, the 2 workshops will be given by three professionals: Dr Julie Blumenfeld, Certified Nurse Midwife and Rutgers University Midwifery Faculty; Teresita Carrasquillo, CHSofNJ Community Doula Supervisor, Certified Doula and Childbirth Educator; and CHSofNJ Vice President for Maternal Child Health Services Maritza Raimundi-Petroski, MPA.  All three professionals are bilingual (English-Spanish). CHSofNJ will coordinate with the regional NJ Maternal Child Health Consortium and their member hospitals to offer professional development credits (CEUs and CEs) for medical provider participation in the workshops.