ArticleMaternal and child health journal2017
Doula Services Within a Healthy Start Program: Increasing Access for an Underserved Population.
Article in Maternal and child health journal, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04879797 (Reducing Racial Disparities in SMM), which is not on this map. Cited by 57 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Reducing Racial Disparities in SMM: Assessing the Integration of Maternal Safety Bundles and Community Based Doulas to Improve Outcomes for Black Women
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
- Doula Support During Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Postpartum: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Obstetrics and gynecology · 2026Pooled it
- Addressing the U.S. maternal health crisis: a systematic review of healthcare access barriers, disparate outcomes, and effective interventions.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- The role of doulas in providing breastfeeding support during the COVID-19 pandemic.International breastfeeding journal · 2023Pooled it
- Views of healthcare providers on the provision of continuous care during labour by maternity care assistants in the Netherlands: a qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Strengthening community-based doula and clinician partnerships through implementation and dissemination science approaches: a mixed-methods pilot study.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Low-risk Cesareans Across the US: A Decomposition of Individual- and County-level Factors by Race/Ethnicity.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Continuous labor support by doulas and nurses and its impact on birth outcomes: a systematic review.Frontiers in health services · 2026Review
- Maternity Care Access and Infant Mortality.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Explaining the care process by companion midwife during childbirth and providing strategies to improve the companion midwife regulations: a study protocol.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Stress-induced developmental plasticity and spontaneous preterm birth: A justice-oriented eco-evo-devo review.European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X · 2025Review
- Community-based doulas and medicaid expansion: a resource-based approach to support the well-being of low-income postpartum women.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Understanding Patient Needs and Perceptions of Doula Care in South Florida.The Journal of perinatal education · 2025Article
- "Sometimes the Doulas, They Need a Doula": A Qualitative Analysis of Black and Pacific Islander Doulas' Perspectives on Personal and Professional Growth as Birth Workers.The Journal of perinatal education · 2025Article
- A novice to expert analysis of skill development in birth doulas.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- "We don't just want doulas. We want good doulas." Examining the role of doula training in promoting perinatal mental health.Social work in mental health · 2025Article
- Navigating promise and perils: applying artificial intelligence to the perinatal mental health care cascade.npj health systems · 2025Review
- Black:white inequities in infant mortality across the 69 most populous US cities, 2018-2021.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Implementation of a clinically integrated breastfeeding peer counselor program.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024Article
- Resilience to stress during pregnancy: Biopsychosocial mechanisms and implications for offspring emotional and behavioral outcomes in toddlerhood.Developmental psychology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWomen of color in the United States, particularly in high-poverty neighborhoods, experience high rates of poor birth outcomes, including cesarean section, preterm birth, low birthweight, and infant mortality. Doula care has been linked to improvements in many perinatal outcomes, but women of color and low-income women often face barriers in accessing doula support. DESCRIPTION: To address this issue, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Healthy Start Brooklyn introduced the By My Side Birth Support Program in 2010. The goal was to complement other maternal home-visiting programs by providing doula support during labor and birth, along with prenatal and postpartum visits. Between 2010 and 2015, 489 infants were born to women enrolled in the program. ASSESSMENT: Data indicate that By My Side is a promising model of support for Healthy Start projects nationwide. Compared to the project area, program participants had lower rates of preterm birth (6.3 vs. 12.4%, p < 0.001) and low birthweight (6.5 vs. 11.1%, p = 0.001); however, rates of cesarean birth did not differ significantly (33.5 vs. 36.9%, p = 0.122). Further research is needed to explore possible reasons for this finding, and to examine the influence of doula support on birth outcomes among populations with high rates of chronic disease and stressors such as poverty, racism, and exposure to violence. However, feedback from participants indicates that doula support is highly valued and helps give women a voice in consequential childbirth decisions.
conclusionAvailable evidence suggests that doula services may be an important component of an effort to address birth inequities.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.