Doulas of Douglas County & Healthy Blue Kansas
Oct 17, 2022
Doulas of Douglas County announces that Healthy Blue is a new sponsor and partner in expanding access to doula support and improving health outcomes for mothers of color and birthing parents.
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries. Black women and birthing parents are more than three times more likely to die in childbirth than white women and birthing parents. Doula support can address these health inequities for at-risk individuals--low-income, rural, and communities of color.
Doulas of Douglas County provides support during pregnancy, at birth and through the postpartum period. In addition to these services, families served by a doula can access support such as up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave (funded through a United Way Anti-Poverty grant) and a community closet with items such as breastfeeding supplies, pregnancy clothing and diapers.
“Our goal is to ensure that women of color in our community have what they need to successfully parent their young children,” said Traci Dotson, Doulas of Douglas County program manager.
Doulas of Douglas County recently launched a program with funding from the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund to develop a network of infant and toddler childcare centers for mothers and birthing parents returning to work after parental leave.
“Our newborn babies are learning right after birth,” said Daneka Vann, Doulas of Douglas County education specialist. “I’m excited to join with mothers of color to get our babies off to the best possible start in life. We are building a community working together to invest in our babies and ourselves as parents.”
Healthy Blue provides Doulas of Douglas County with funding for:
Free doula support for 50 birthing people
Office space for Doulas of Douglas County to host childbirth education classes, breastfeeding support and other community gatherings for families
Supplies for the Maternity, Birth and Wellness Community Closet
Healthy Blue is a collaboration of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) and Anthem Partnership Holding Company, which was formed in hopes of being selected to serve KanCare when the state issues Medicaid managed care contracts next year.
About Healthy Blue
Healthy Blue is a collaboration of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) and Anthem Partnership Holding Company, LLC which was formed specifically to serve Medicaid enrollees. APHC has 30 years of Medicaid experience through its parent and affiliated companies. They serve 10.5 million Medicaid enrollees across 25 markets, including 1.6 million Medicaid members with specialized needs similar to those of the KanCare population. Their Medicaid expertise -- combined with the strong and longstanding provider relationships held by BCBSKS and Blue KC across all 105 counties – would position Healthy Blue to infuse both innovation and accountability to the KanCare program if selected as a new managed care organization when the state conducts a procurement next year.
Contact:
Traci Dotson
785-760-3924