Walmart expands doula services for employees to address racial disparities in birth outcomes

Walmart is expanding health care coverage for employees who want to enlist the services of a doula, a person trained to assist women during pregnancies, to address racial inequities in maternal care (Source: “Walmart expands health services to address racial inequality,” Associated Press, June 22).

After first offering doulas to employees in Georgia last year, the nation’s largest retailer said Wednesday that it will expand the same benefit to its employees in Louisiana, Indiana and Illinois.

Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women, largely due to differences in the quality of health care, underlying chronic conditions and structural racism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Employing a doula as a part of a birthing team decreases C-sections by 50%, shortens the time of labor by 25% and decreases the need for other medical interventions by more than 50%, according to the National Black Doulas Association.

Earlier this month, the Ohio House passed a bill that would provide Medicaid coverage for licensed doula services. (Source: “Doula services could soon be covered by Medicaid after racial equity bill passes Ohio House,” Ohio Capital Journal, June 9).