Virginia Union College is making historical past with the launch of its Doula Certification Program—the primary of its form 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 Beginning In Shade and the Virginia Division of Well being (VDH), the six-month program equips college students with the abilities and coaching wanted to turn out to be licensed doulas, offering unbiased, culturally competent care to expectant households all through the Commonwealth, in line with 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 progress and future path are anticipated quickly.
Why do doulas matter?
A doula is a educated skilled who gives not solely help throughout delivery, however emotional, bodily, and informational assist to people earlier than, throughout, and after childbirth. In contrast to medical doctors or midwives, doulas don’t supply medical care or ship infants; as an alternative, they deal with holistic assist tailor-made to the birthing individual’s wants. In line with Deliberate Parenthood, there are a number of kinds of doulas, together with delivery doulas, who assist people throughout labor supply and after childbirth.
They supply consolation measures corresponding to therapeutic massage, respiratory methods, and place adjustments, whereas additionally providing instructional assist, serving to with communication within the hospital setting, and providing steering. Postpartum doulas assist households within the early days after delivery whereas antepartum doulas help moms throughout high-risk pregnancies. Total, these essential medical professionals function a peaceful, educated presence throughout what could be one of the 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 turn out 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 prone to die from pregnancy-related causes in comparison with their white counterparts. In line 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 price 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 continual underlying well being circumstances 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 a crucial 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 reworking Black maternal and toddler healthcare in Virginia,” Cosby stated in a press release. “This program is greater than coaching—it’s about saving lives, decreasing disparities, and empowering communities.”
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Virginia Union College Turns into 1st HBCU To Launch Doula Certification Program
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