Local community organization grantees work with families to create innovative program designs called “prototypes,” which address racial disparities in human services and outcomes facing the families in their community.

Reducing Black maternal health disparities with opt-out doula services and comprehensive integrated services from community health workers

This prototype is designed to improve the health of birthing persons and their babies, enhance the experience of perinatal care, and ultimately, reduce racial disparities in parent and child outcomes in Minnesota. There are significant disparities in Black maternal and infant health. 

Compared to white women, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause, experience maternal morbidity and mistreatment by health care providers at a higher rate, and infants born to Black women are over twice as likely to die, with 60% of those deaths being determined as preventable (CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, 2021). Northpoint seeks to identify what system, program, and practice barriers exist and how they contribute Black maternal and infant health disparities. To identify the barriers and gaps in the healthcare system, Northpoint will leverage family feedback, patient experience, and provider input, to propose more accessible holistic care that prioritizes, rather than ignore, racial and cultural components of health. In addition to the national health disparities among Black women and their children, the state of Minnesota has some of the worst birthing disparity rates in the nation for Black women. 

The prototype is designed around three major components:

1. Group-based care and support for 15-30 Black birthing persons via monthly group education meetings; with individual care coordination.
2. Opt-out doula referral model, where a participant is assigned a community-based doula at enrollment.
3. Community health worker integration through group education and collaboration between providers and community partners.

To close the gap in health outcomes at the system level, NorthPoint will use a multifaceted approach to improve birthing outcomes for Black birthing persons. The proposed Whole Family Systems Initiative prototype will provide insight into system barriers and guide policy recommendations around opt-out doula services, increased reimbursement rates for doulas, expanded eligibility for enhanced services, an expanded role for community health workers in obstetrics, and improvements to the cumbersome reimbursement process.