The Maine Hospital and Doula Collaborative is an initiative to improve interprofessional
relationships between hospital staff and doulas to ensure coordinated care that addresses the
physical, emotional, and cultural needs of pregnant, birthing and postpartum patients. This pilot program is grant funded by the Bingham Program.

 

​Due to the introduction of recent legislation in Maine and Maine’s award of a Transforming
Maternal Healthcare (TMaH) grant, MaineCare coverage of doula services will become a reality
in Maine by 2028 and coverage by private insurance will follow. As a result, Maine will see an
uptake in the utilization of doula services, a more diverse doula workforce, and more doulas
present in hospitals as they accompany their clients through birth. In anticipation of these
changes, Maine Doula Coalition (MDC) is initiating a care model called the Hospital and Doula
Collaborative to help hospital staff and doulas prepare for this change. These improvements are facilitated via hospital champions and local doula liaisons working together through this toolkit process to improve understanding, trust and bi-directional communication.

 

It is clear that in order for doulas to provide effective care to their clients, there must be collaborative working relationships between doulas and hospital teams. However, there are few practical roadmaps for how hospitals and doulas can work together to transform those recommendations into meaningful changes in clinical care settings. The creation of a process oriented toolkit will provide guidance on tangible steps toward collaboration and to allow hospitals and their local doulas to work together to identify simple, individualized ways to better integrate independent doulas into hospital care teams.