Doula Grantee and Nicholson Senior Program Officer Featured on Maternal Health Podcast

Raquel Mazon Jeffers, Senior Program Officer, The Nicholson Foundation, and Ronsha Dickerson, Supervisor of Community Doulas of South Jersey, recently discussed the important role of doulas in decreasing disparities in maternal and infant health on the Pregnancy, Parenting & Politics podcast.

The national podcast, hosted by author and former labor and delivery nurse Jeanne Faulkner, features conversations with experts in pregnancy, parenting, and maternal health issues, and looks at the political issues surrounding pregnancy and birth.

New Jersey ranks 47th highest out of 50 states for maternal mortality. In response, The Nicholson Foundation in partnership with NJ Department of Health has been supporting a pilot program to train a cadre of 80 black doulas and develop a strategy for Medicaid reimbursement.  Doulas have been proven to result in lower rates of maternal and infant health complications, fewer pre-term births and low-birth-weight infants, lower rates of Cesarean sections, and higher rates of breastfeeding.

Among the topics covered during the podcast:

• The role of race in disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.
• How Dickerson sees her work as a doula advancing a social justice mission.
• The reason for The Nicholson Foundation investment in community doulas.

Listen to Pregnancy, Parenting and Politics podcast.