Collaborative Training as a Conduit to Build Knowledge in Black Birth Workers.

Area of Science:

• Maternal Health
• Health Equity
• Community Health

Background:

• Black women experience disparities in birthing outcomes, often linked to perceived racism and profound mistrust of obstetric providers.
• Community doulas serve as crucial support and advocacy for Black birthing individuals during pregnancy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a structured didactic training program for community doulas and institutional obstetric providers.
• The training focused on common pregnancy complications disproportionately affecting Black women.

Main Methods:

• A 2-hour collaborative training session was co-developed by a community doula, Maternal/Fetal Medicine physician, and nurse midwife.
• Twelve community doulas completed pre- and post-training assessments measuring knowledge of pregnancy complications.
• Paired t-tests were used to analyze changes in assessment scores, with p < 0.05 considered significant.

Main Results:

• Post-training assessment scores significantly improved across all tested areas, including post-birth warning signs, hypertension in pregnancy, and gestational diabetes mellitus/breastfeeding.
• The mean correct score on the post-test increased to 91.92% from a pre-test mean of 55.25% (p < 0.01).
• Knowledge of post-birth warning signs increased from 37.5% to 92.7%, hypertension in pregnancy from 72.9% to 81.3%, and gestational diabetes mellitus/breastfeeding from 75% to 100%.

Conclusions:

• A collaborative educational framework between doulas and obstetric providers can effectively enhance knowledge among community partners.
• Such partnerships are vital for improving trust and potentially improving birth outcomes for Black communities.
• This training model demonstrates a promising approach to bridging gaps in perinatal care for Black women.