KanCare, Kansas’ Medicaid program, will cover doula services for its pregnant beneficiaries beginning July 1. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a release that the policy change aims to improve maternal health outcomes in Kansas.
“Doulas play a vital role in the health and well-being of mothers and their babies, and this new coverage will ensure more families in Kansas can benefit from their services,” Janet Stanek, KDHE secretary, said in the release.
Doulas serve as advocates and educators for pregnant women. Many of them are on call 24/7, answering anxious texts and phone calls from moms-to-be or rushing to meet their clients in labor to attend their births.
Sara Skiles, owner of Wichita Doula, said doulas bridge the gap between overloaded OB-GYNs and their patients.
“Medical providers can only see the family so many times in the pregnancy and in the postpartum period,” she said. “So a lot of times they don’t have anywhere to go or anyone to call for support.”
Skiles said doctors traditionally schedule a follow-up visit six weeks after a person has given birth. She said that six-week period can be a vulnerable time for new moms and their infants.
“A lot of things can go wrong with mental health, physical health, the newborn, challenges with breastfeeding,” Skiles said.
Although doulas are not physicians, they go through various training and certification courses. Skiles said doulas do home visits and talk to their clients about what is and isn’t normal and when to see a doctor.
That type of support can be lifesaving. Moms who use doulas are two times less likely to experience birth complications and four times less likely to give birth to an underweight baby, according to the National Institutes of Health.
And Kansas moms need this type of support.
Severe maternal morbidity, when a person experiences extreme complications during labor and delivery that impact their long- or short-term health, increased by 6.4% annually between 2016 and 2020, according to a study from the Kansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
Kansas moms on Medicaid or from low-income ZIP codes and women of color disproportionately bear the brunt of pregnancy and post-pregnancy complications.
Doula care coverage was already in the works
Before KanCare’s announcement about expanding coverage to pay for doulas, another Medicaid provider stepped up. In 2022, UnitedHealthcare, one of the state’s three Medicaid providers, began a pilot program to cover doula care for moms in Wyandotte County on the UnitedHealthcare Medicaid plan.
Eventually, Kansas became one of 5 states taking part in a broader pilot program, covering doula services for all moms in Kansas on UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid program.
