NHA community health centers accept most insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare. Health care assistance on a sliding fee scale is available for those who are underinsured or uninsured.
Village Care Doula Program
Neighborhood Health Association’s Village Care Doula Program is the first program of its kind in the area.
All pregnant patients at NHA will receive the benefit of a Doula throughout their entire pregnancy, labor, and delivery, and postpartum.
PROGRAM SPECIFICS:
Through their relationship with the Doulas, NHA patients will have access to:
- One-on-one communication about their pregnancy and health throughout their childbearing year.
- Access to up-to-date education about childbirth, postpartum, parenting, and infant feeding.
- Opportunities to connect with a community of other women and parents who share their experiences.
- Connections to assistance programs throughout NHA and the city.
Birth Doulas help to build relationships with expecting families to help them have a positive birth experience. Birth Doulas help facilitate conversations between the birthing person and their care provider, provide non-judgmental support for their birth choices, and support the family throughout the entire pregnancy.
USEFUL RESOURCES: FROM THE COMMONWEALTH FUND; Issue Brief; March 4, 2021:
Evidence of Effectiveness: Doulas can improve perinatal and postpartum outcomes while being cost-effective, particularly for those facing inequities in birth outcomes. For example, those at high risk for adverse birth outcomes receiving care from doulas, compared with those not receiving care from doulas, are:
- Two times less likely to experience a birth complication.
- Four times less likely to have a low birth weight baby.
- More likely to breastfeed.
- More likely to be satisfied with their care.
Capacity to Advance Equity: The evidence suggests doulas are beneficial particularly for women of color, low-income women, and other marginalized communities. For example, a study of Medicaid beneficiaries receiving doula support found lower rates of C-sections and preterm births, compared with other pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid. Similar findings were reported for a community-based doula program serving predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods in New York City. Additionally, a recent study in California found that doulas have the potential to provide a “buffer” against racism in health care for pregnant women of color by providing patient-centered, tailored, and culturally appropriate care.”
Information here is sourced from: Community-Based Models Improve Maternal Outcomes and Equity | Commonwealth Fund
PROVIDER INFORMATION:
- The Village Care Doula program is accessible to all NHA patients throughout their prenatal and short-term post partum care.
- After becoming an NHA patient, you will have complete access to a doula throughout your pregnancy and post partum transition.
- We will be working closely with Moms and Babies First and WIC to coordinate services for the patients.
- The coordinator of the program is Sommer Clayborne, EIDS, MSP. Sommer can be contacted at 419-214-5700 ext. 5043.
Provider Profile
Meet Your Doula: Sommer Clayborne
“I believe every mom deserves a healthy baby, just as much as every baby deserves a healthy mom,” explained Sommer Clayborne, EIDS, MSP.
As the coordinator of the Doula program at NHA, she feels a sincere sense of community from her co-workers who are dedicated to the full spectrum of care for patients.
As a doula, Sommer aims to provide non-invasive care, comfort, and compassion that makes all patients, and their families feel safe, heard, and empowered. Her journey to become a doula was inspired by her own experiences.
“Having experienced many complications during my own early pregnancies and during pregnancy losses, I often felt alone, scared, and hopeless,” she said. “I felt as though the medical team failed to provide me with the prenatal and postpartum support I deserved.”
She made it her mission to never allow another woman to feel the same way. She feels her education and lived experiences make her especially qualified to help expectant mothers on their journeys.
Visits with the doula are included as part of care at NHA. “Once your visit is confirmed, the care team assigned to you will familiarize themselves with your care plan before you enter the consultation room,” she said.
The care plan is designed with the patient’s feedback and participation. Your doula will accompany you as little or as much as you wish and provide the support you need through the span of your pregnancy and after bringing home the baby.
“If a client walks away feeling that we are invested in their overall wellbeing, we have completed our mission for the day!” She added.
Sommer has been providing birth support for 10 years and has been a doula for four years. She received her undergraduate degree from BGSU and her doula training Bebo Mia Inc., an accredited program that operates out of Canada.
She is also licensed by the state of Ohio as an Early Intervention Developmental Specialist and works to support families with infants and toddlers’ birth to three, that have a developmental/physical delay and/or diagnosed disability.
Doula Fun Fact
The word doula comes from the ancient Greek word meaning “a woman who serves” and is now considered a person who provides advice, information, emotional companionship and physical support, to increase positive birth outcomes and decease postpartum complications.
