S.C. bill would require doula care to be covered under Medicaid
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - Women in South Carolina are much more likely to die while pregnant or postpartum than those in almost all other states.
The statistics for Black moms and those who live in rural areas are even more startling, as their maternal mortality rates are about double what they are for white and urban mothers, respectively.
An effort in Columbia aims to address these troubling trends through a bipartisan bill filed in the House of Representatives that would require Medicaid and private insurers in South Carolina to cover the cost of doula care.
“We find that a lot of times where moms are in situations where they are already on other assistance, but they need that additional to help them with education, information that they need to bring into their own environments to where they can understand it,” said Tameka Walker, a doula in Beaufort.
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As opposed to midwives, who provide medical care, doulas are nonmedical professionals who provide physical, mental, and emotional , care, and information to moms during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.
“We make sure that they have childbirth education, that they understand what their bodies are capable of doing, they understand advocacy, they understand how to ask the questions,” Columbia doula Karen Nolen testified before a House Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee on Thursday.
Some studies indicate doula care can improve maternal health outcomes, especially for lower-income women, and reduce health complications, unnecessary C-sections, and preterm births.
“As a professional who delivers babies, doulas are a complement to the services that we provide,” Dr. Kari-Claudia Allen Harrington, a family medicine obstetrician with Prisma Health said. “I had a doula that walked me through my pregnancy. My labor was three days long, and she was there from day one, day three, and went home with us with baby, and I could not have done it without her.”
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More than 20 other states already require their Medicaid plans to reimburse the costs for doula care, and many others are exploring the option.
Among South Carolina’s neighbors, both Georgia and North Carolina have started pilot programs to reimburse doula costs through Medicaid.
Advocates believe this bill could play a key role in boosting South Carolina’s poor maternal health rankings.
“They ensure that people receive comionate, evidence-based care in a system that often does not do that,” Rep. Kambrell Garvin, D – Richland and the bill’s lead sponsor, said.
The bill had its first hearing in a House Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee Thursday, but of that said they wanted to hear more testimony before deciding whether to advance it.
Similar legislation has also been filed in the Senate this year by Republican Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort.
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