Virginia Union College is making historical past with the launch of its Doula Certification Program—the primary of its sort at a Traditionally Black School or College (HBCU). This pioneering initiative is designed to assist shut the hole in racial disparities surrounding maternal and toddler well being. In collaboration with Delivery In Colour and the Virginia Division of Well being (VDH), the six-month program equips college students with the talents and coaching wanted to grow to be licensed doulas, offering unbiased, culturally competent care to expectant households all through the Commonwealth, in response to a press launch.
Now, in its second cohort since fall 2025, this system is a key a part of Virginia Union College’s broader Well being Fairness Initiatives. By combining well being fairness with workforce improvement, Virginia Union is deepening its influence in public well being and healthcare schooling, driving significant change within the lives of Black households and communities. Additional updates on this system’s development and future path are anticipated quickly.
Why do doulas matter?
A doula is a skilled skilled who gives not solely help throughout delivery, however emotional, bodily, and informational help to people earlier than, throughout, and after childbirth. Not like medical doctors or midwives, doulas don’t supply medical care or ship infants; as a substitute, they deal with holistic help tailor-made to the birthing individual’s wants. In accordance with Deliberate Parenthood, there are a number of varieties of doulas, together with delivery doulas, who help people throughout labor supply and after childbirth.
They supply consolation measures equivalent to therapeutic massage, respiratory strategies, and place modifications, whereas additionally providing instructional help, serving to with communication within the hospital setting, and providing steering. Postpartum doulas help households within the early days after delivery whereas antepartum doulas help moms throughout high-risk pregnancies. Total, these essential medical professionals function a relaxed, educated presence throughout what may be probably the most intense and transformative instances in an individual’s life.
Black ladies in Virginia are in determined want of high quality maternal care.
In Virginia, the necessity for doulas has grow to be more and more pressing because the maternal mortality disaster continues to disproportionately have an effect on Black ladies, who’re greater than twice as more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes in comparison with their white counterparts. In accordance with the Nationwide Black Girls’s Reproductive Agenda, Virginia ranked twelfth within the nation for maternal mortality in 2024. Between 2018 and 2021, the state recorded 65 pregnancy-related deaths, with a maternal mortality charge of twenty-two.3 deaths per 100,000 dwell births, greater than the nationwide common of 20.4 per 100,000.
Racial bias in healthcare, restricted entry to high quality prenatal care and better charges of power underlying well being situations contribute to the rising disparity, however all of those components are preventable. Felicia D. Cosby, Dean of Virginia Union Technical School, believes that the HBCU’s groundbreaking program is an important first step towards making certain Black ladies obtain the holistic, culturally competent care they deserve.
“As we launch this pioneering Doula Certification Program, we’re taking a daring step towards remodeling Black maternal and toddler healthcare in Virginia,” Cosby mentioned in an announcement. “This program is greater than coaching—it’s about saving lives, lowering disparities, and empowering communities.”
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Virginia Union College Turns into 1st HBCU To Launch Doula Certification Program
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