Version 1
: Received: 10 August 2024 / Approved: 12 August 2024 / Online: 13 August 2024 (17:06:53 CEST)
How to cite:
Romero, D.; Manze, M.; Mohnani, M. Pregnancy Outcomes Following Participation in the Healthy Women Healthy Futures Doula Program in New York City. Preprints2024, 2024080872. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0872.v1
Romero, D.; Manze, M.; Mohnani, M. Pregnancy Outcomes Following Participation in the Healthy Women Healthy Futures Doula Program in New York City. Preprints 2024, 2024080872. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0872.v1
Romero, D.; Manze, M.; Mohnani, M. Pregnancy Outcomes Following Participation in the Healthy Women Healthy Futures Doula Program in New York City. Preprints2024, 2024080872. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0872.v1
APA Style
Romero, D., Manze, M., & Mohnani, M. (2024). Pregnancy Outcomes Following Participation in the Healthy Women Healthy Futures Doula Program in New York City. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0872.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Romero, D., Meredith Manze and Mukta Mohnani. 2024 "Pregnancy Outcomes Following Participation in the Healthy Women Healthy Futures Doula Program in New York City" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0872.v1
Abstract
Background: Historically, in the United States and globally, women have supported other women before, during, and after childbirth. Birth doulas are considered an important component to eliminating racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality. To address disparities in birth outcomes, Healthy Women Healthy Futures (HWHF) provides free birth and postpartum doula services to low-income women and communities of color in New York City. Methods: Secondary analysis of program data (n=364) collected between 2020 and 2021 was conducted. Univariate and multivariable analyses focused on: method of delivery, preterm birth, low-birthweight birth, breastfeeding, maternal-infant skin contact. The key exposure variable was total doula hours. Results: Clients who received prenatal doula support had low rates of preterm birth (8.8%) and low birthweight (7.1%), and high rates of vaginal delivery (69.1%), breastfeeding in the hospital (90.9%), and maternal-infant skin contact (78.2%). Multivariable analysis did not identify an association between number of doula hours and any of the five outcomes examined. Conclusion: While descriptive results point to positive birth outcomes, these effects did not persist in multivariable analyses. Data quality concerns from this intervention likely hindered the ability to detect a program impact, emphasizing the importance of funding to support data collection and management activities.
Keywords
doulas; pregnancy outcome; health disparities; maternal health; women of color
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
