It’s Black Maternal Health Week. Here’s everything you should know to protect yourself and those you love.
Today is the first day of Black Maternal Health Week, which is designed to honor and uplift the many Black women who are struggling and fighting for adequate health rights in and outside the hospital. Founded by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, the week focuses on creating awareness for improved maternal health outcomes for Black women.
Unfortunately, according to the CDC, in 2022, the maternal mortality rate for Black women in the United States was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births. As a solution to unsafe conditions in hospitals, many Black women are opting to have midwives and doulas as part of their birth team. However, some people aren’t familiar with the differences between midwives and doulas, and their benefits, especially if they aren’t mothers who are expecting.
Although midwives aren’t OBGYNs or primary care providers, they are trained medical professionals designed to take care of the mother during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, especially during at-home birth, which many Black women are opting for, due to a healthy and deserved distrust of hospitals and medical staff, and a preference for a comfortable environment. Doulas, conversely, offer non-medical emotional and physical support during labor, and afterward, during the postpartum. In short, midwives have the knowledge and capacity to deliver babies, while offering medical advice and interventions, while doulas traditionally don’t deliver babies and focus mainly on comfort and advocacy.
See additional differences below:
Midwives have medical training:
Midwives are medical professionals with certified training in midwifery, while doulas are not medical professionals. Midwives can also make difficult medical decisions and administer medications, while doulas can’t.
The type of care is different:
Midwives usually provide clinical care, including prenatal care, labor monitoring, and delivery, while doulas focus on nonmedical techniques during labor: breathwork, massages, and helpful body positioning. Instead, doulas provide emotional support throughout the birth process and serve as advocates on the mother’s behalf. They also use nonmedical techniques during labor: breathwork, massages, and helpful body positioning.