Goff, Attanasio Join Effort to Improve Birth Equity and Support through the Inclusion of Doula Expertise

Health Promotion and Policy faculty members Sarah Goff and Laura Attanasio are members of a Baystate Medical Center team that was awarded $193,457 by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) to build a new doula program for Black birthing people. The HPC announced its $390,381 investment to two birthing hospitals, Baystate Medical Center and Boston Medical Center, through the Birth Equity and Support through the Inclusion of Doula Expertise (BESIDE) investment program. The BESIDE Investment Program aims to address inequities in maternal health outcomes and improve the care and patient experience of Black birthing people by increasing access to and use of doula services.

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The project is led by Dr. Neena Qasba, an OB-GYN at Baystate Medical Center, and includes key partners from the doula community in Springfield, the Women of Color Health Equity Collective, midwives and leadership in Baystate's OB-GYN department and the Center for Program Evaluation in SPHHS, in which Goff and Attanasio serve as key faculty members. Goff and Attanasio will serve as the team’s lead evaluators and will help to develop and implement their program.

“The overwhelming racial and ethnic disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality in the U.S. are a public health crisis,” says Goff. “The Health Policy Commission has recognized the need for Massachusetts to be a leader in addressing these disparities and our team is fortunate to have the opportunity to try to make a difference through the BESIDE funding.”

The group will contract with Springfield Family Doulas and provide support to 30 birthing people over the course of two years and train three additional doulas. The program includes significant community outreach and communication to ensure community members are aware of the role and benefits of doulas. The BESIDE team will also survey community organizations to better understand the needs of Black birthing people in the community.

“The program’s aim is to develop and pilot a new partnership between Baystate OB-Gyn and Springfield Family Doulas to improve access to doula care for Black birthing people, the population with the highest maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the country, and measure outcomes of the doula intervention,” adds Goff. “Part of the intervention includes training in implicit bias and anti-racism in health care settings. Our hope is that this unique health care/community/academic partnership will allow us to develop a larger study with expanded access for women in multiple marginalized communities.”

More information on the awardees’ initiatives, including proposed program designs and community organization partners, can be found on the HPC’s website.