The Antelope Valley Times

Your community. Your issues. Your news.

  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Local
    • Palmdale
    • Lancaster
    • Los Angeles County
    • Littlerock
    • Lake Los Angeles
    • Rosamond
    • Edwards AFB
    • Acton
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Advertise
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    Show Search

LA County looks to expand accessibility of doula services

by The AV Times Staff • February 8, 2023 Leave a Comment

The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously supported a program to expand doula services across the area by making them more accessible and conducting outreach to increase the size of the doula workforce.

“Across the nation, maternal and infant mortality rates are exponentially higher for Black people than any other group,” Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, who introduced the motion, said in a statement. “Doula care is shown to improve pregnancy experiences and birthing outcomes. We must increase awareness of doula services for mothers and families across the county and expand our workforce to be more representative of our communities most in need. This motion helps us achieve this by investing in the success of our new doula Medi-Cal benefit.”

The motion approved by the board directs the Department of Public Health to work with other agencies — including the Department of Health Services and the Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion initiative — and report back in 60 days with a plan to create a “hub” for doula service providers, making their services more readily available. It also calls for an outreach program to recruit more doulas, who provide support for pregnant women during labor, childbirth and beyond.

According to Mitchell’s office, doula services have been found to reduce the rate of pre-term and Caesarean births and decrease symptoms of postpartum depression. Her office also noted that the Black infant mortality rate in the county is triple the rate of white infants, and the Black maternal mortality rate is four times that of white maternal mortality.

–

Filed Under: Health, Home, Los Angeles County

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Comments

  • Tim Yousounddumb on Ex-guard who raped inmate at federal lockup gets 10 years: “Yes let’s put the man who raped a female inmate with a bunch of female inmates ???????? What could possibly…” Mar 24, 15:33
  • East Palmdale's Most in Love With Mexico on Readers Speak Out! (January 2023): “That’s sad. I had partied and vacationed in Mexico quite a bit for many years and always had a great…” Mar 24, 15:26
  • Eye on Woman found dead in Lancaster garage identified: “RIP MY DEAR FRIEND” Mar 24, 12:40
  • ACE on Fasting for Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan begins Thursday: “I’M FASTING FOR THOSE SAN BERNARDINO ISLAMIC MASS MURDERERS OF THEIR FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS AT THEIR CHRISTMAS PARTY AND LATER…” Mar 24, 11:20
  • Tim Scott on Readers Speak Out! (January 2023): “Notice how when Tweedledumb gets her nonsense shoved back in her face she just moves on and spouts nonsense somewhere…” Mar 24, 10:56

Copyright © 2023 · The AV Times LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of Use