Director of Programs and Impact What to Expect Project New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Full Description: The pregnancy-related mortality ratio (PRMR) in the United States has more than doubled between 1987 and 2016 (about 60 percent of those deaths are preventable), making the United States the only high-income nation whose PRMR has increased over the last several decades. As non-medical professionals, doulas are trained to provide continuous non-clinical emotional, physical, and informational support during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Research suggests that doula care can improve maternal and infant health outcomes by reducing maternal stress, reducing maternity care costs, and improving communication between pregnant women and their health care providers. Military moms may especially benefit from doula care as they are at increased risk for stress and isolation during their pregnancies. The What to Expect Project (WTEP) provided support to pass the TRICARE Coverage for Doula Support Act under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. This bill offers doula care reimbursement for military moms through TRICARE. Due to COVID-19, engagement with congressional offices occurred via Zoom and other virtual platforms. The passing of this bill directly impact any individuals under TRICARE, including active-duty members, retired members, members of the Guard/Reserves, family members and some veteran populations. WTEP supported this bill by engaging community members to vocalize support of the bill to their legislators through grassroots efforts via social media engagement, collecting testimonies from military moms, and providing research materials on the impacts of doula care to legislative representatives and sponsors of the bill. To evaluate the policy outcomes, the NDAA bill requires the Secretary of Defense to collect data on how many members of the Armed Forces or military spouses gave birth while their spouse or birthing partner was absent and on the number of births at each military medical treatment facility and under TRICARE. This information will allow government agencies to track impact, cost, quality of care, and trends in childbirth across the services to ensure necessary resources are available for military families to address maternal health disparities. The legislation passed on January 1, 2021 and includes a five-year pilot program to cover the services of doula support for female troops and military family members during childbirth. While the former Presidential administration originally vetoed the bill, the House and Senate passed the legislation by such wide margins, that the chambers had the votes to override the rejection and enact the bill. This panel will discuss the importance of receiving bipartisan support in both chambers for successful MCH legislation. WTEP engaged all congressional members that supported previous relevant bills (i.e., using general military support to support doula care under TRICARE).
Abbreviated Description: Join the What to Expect Project (WTEP) in a panel discussion on successful advocacy strategies for MCH legislation. Most recently, WTEP provided support for the TRICARE Coverage for Doula Support Act under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Successfully passed on January 1, 20201, this bill includes a five-year pilot program through TRICARE to cover the services of doula support for female troops and military family members during childbirth. WTEP supported this bill by engaging community members to vocalize support of the bill to their legislators through grassroots efforts via social media engagement, collecting testimonies from military moms, and providing research materials on the impacts of doula care to legislative representatives and sponsors of the bill.
