Bringing Community-Based Doula Care To New Jersey

Community-based doula care provides a powerful and personalized strategy for improving birth outcomes for mothers and babies. From prenatal planning to postpartum visits, doula care can impact more than a patient’s experience. Evidence demonstrates that doula care can play an important role in improving health outcomes by acting as a mitigating factor for maternal mortality, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color. In New Jersey, state officials have recognized the potential of community-based doula care to support healthy births, by passing legislation to increase access to doula services and convening a diverse stakeholder group to develop doula care policies and procedures as part of a collaborative policy-making approach.