BabyLiveAdvice partners with the National Black Doula Association to provide virtual telehealth support to minority BIPOC mothers of Georgia from pregnancy to infancy

LOS ANGELES, April 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of National Minority Health Month and Black Maternal Health Week, BabyLiveAdvice (BLA) is proud to announce the completion of an important maternal telehealth project that will soon be launching its second phase, both bringing free virtual telehealth support to minority mothers during pregnancy and postpartum.

Last year, BLA received a large grant to support inner-city minority mothers in Chicago, Illinois, in partnership with local Federally Qualified Health Centers. The project expanded to the state of Georgia, with the help of Johnson & Johnson and in partnership with local community physicians. The project enabled BLA to provide 175 Black and Hispanic mothers with free access to culturally competent virtual care, unbiased advice, support, and group education from BLA's team of Maternal-Infant experts, such as nurses, doulas, lactation consultants and mental health providers in the mothers' language and at their home. This, first of its kind, maternity telehealth demonstration project provided the much-needed evidence that telehealth has immense potential to bridge the gap in access to care, by connecting isolated people, particularly minorities, with health practitioners, and reducing the need for transportation to receive care.

"I never felt that anyone cared about me or my baby," said Letisha R, a South Chicago mom who participated in the project for 15 months. "I could live or die, and no one will care, until I met LaTanya my nurse on BLA. She was there when I needed her throughout my pregnancy and after Shetty was born, talking to her made me trust again that someone cared about us and that we will be all right."

Full data from this project will be available later this year, but early findings show that 78% of the Black and Hispanic mothers were able to adopt and utilize telehealth with high patient satisfaction and low attrition rates. The project also improved the doctor-patient interactions, with a 48% reduction in no-show rates to scheduled medical appointments, and improved overall pregnancy outcomes for the participating mothers.

The success of the initial project has led to approval of a second phase, which will enable BLA to support six hundred Black mothers in the state of Georgia. For this second phase, BabyLiveAdvice is immensely and especially excited to be partnering with the National Black Doulas Association®, whose doulas will serve as a critical part of the BLA provider team, to bring virtual support to Black (BIPOC) birthing families in the State of Georgia, for no cost.

Black mothers face the highest maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the United States. BLA, and the National Black Doulas Association® are both committed to serving these mothers, and their families, in a meaningful way, to improve the birthing experience and help reduce mortality and morbidity rates in their community. Through this project, Black mothers, birthing people, and parents will be able to connect with doulas, midwifes, nutritionists, diabetic educators, lactation consultants, nurse practitioners and nurses to receive free, one-on-one virtual support as well as educational group classes, from preconception to 6 months postpartum.

The next phase of the project will support further evidence around adoption and utilization of telehealth among the urban and rural underserved BIPOC communities in the state with the highest Black maternal mortality rates. BLA is extremely excited to join with the National Black Doulas Association® and continue its mission helping mothers, birthing people, and parents, especially those most in need.

SOURCE Baby Live Advice