Despite standing as one of the most advanced nations within the sphere of healthcare, the United States has struggled with several challenges in ensuring optimal maternal health. When compared to other high-income countries, the United States holds one of the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. What’s worse, the maternal health landscape reflects glaring disparities among income and race, with Black women three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications at baseline.
In our increasingly interconnected world, birth workers—midwives, doulas, obstetricians, and maternal health advocates—are at the forefront of ensuring safe, dignified, and compassionate care for women and birthing people. At this year’s Doula Expo by Mama Glow, the one and only festival aimed at bridging these various spheres to foster longitudinal solutions, the audience will hear straight from the horse’s mouth. This year, we selected four individuals out of an applicant pool of over 100 to present their research on the Doula Expo stage aligned with our theme: Reimagining Maternal Health.
Meet our esteemed presenters—Porsche M. Holland Otunba, Demetrius Geiger, Dr. Lorena V. Rincones Rojas, and Ann Catherine Celi, MD, MPH.
Meet Porsche M. Holland Otunba
Porsche M. Holland Otunba is a maternal health advocate, birthworker coach, and facilitator of the ACTT curriculum through the Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood. Her presentation, titled ACTT for Safe Motherhood: Claim Your Space, Trust Your Body & Tell Your Story, will touch on the principles of the ACTT framework and the results of its implementation. She defines ACTT as a “self-affirming, and potentially lifesaving” reminder to: (A)sk Questions until You Understand the Answers, (C)laim Your Space, (T)rust Your Body, and (T)ell Your Story.
At the ACTT workshops, participants take turns responding to common challenges faced in medical or maternity service settings during pregnancy, birth, postpartum and beyond. The workshops place emphasis on the principles underlying our very own Doula Expo—the universal right to safe, quality care, and those of informed decision making. Additionally, facilitators underscore the value of vetting maternity services and having a personal advocate, and the healing power of holistic support. Otunba will disseminate the findings tied to the success of the framework’s implementation on the Doula Expo stage on Saturday, October 5th.
Meet Demetrius Geiger
Our second selected presenter is Demetrius Geiger, who is a Program Manager of Equity and Impact at CHC: Creating Healthier Communities. Her presentation, Advancing Community-Driven Solutions: The Black Birthing Initiative’s Model for Maternal Health Equity, will center the Black Birthing Initiative (BBI), a community-driven and led intervention aimed at addressing racial disparities in birthing outcomes. Employing a multifaceted approach, the BBI leverages community, doula, and birth advocate expertise to implement a comprehensive program for improving maternal health standards of care for Black birthing people.
Similar to Otunba, Geiger will discuss the results of the intervention on the Doula Expo stage. Her presentation will explore how the BBI addresses the factors impacting birthing outcomes long before Black birthing people make it to hospital settings, such as the social determinants of health and social connectedness. Additionally, she will make the case for bridging the health sector with non-clinical spheres to advance maternal health equity.
Meet Dr. Lorena V. Rincones Rojas
Dr. Lorena V. Rincones Rojas, who is a Postdoctoral Associate of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine, will offer a glimpse into what this could look like. Her abstract, titled Implementation of a Doula-delivered Intervention for Mental Health (MH) and Cardiovascular (CV) Risk Reduction in the Postpartum (PP) period, will serve as an evaluation of LivingHealthy for Moms (LHM), an evidence-based, holistic, doula-delivered intervention to address critical gaps in postpartum care, and the lack of rigorous evaluation of doula-care programs, to prevent cardiovascular and mental health disorders. At the foundation of the LHM intervention is the finding that mental health and cardiovascular disease contribute most to preventable maternal deaths.
Dr. Rojas will frame and emphasize the LHM as a critical response in our attempts at tailoring solutions to the most vulnerable populations. Additionally, she will speak to the evolution of the intervention, and address the lack of metrics for doula care programs and necessity of optimal postpartum care in New York City.
Meet Ann Catherine Celi, MD, MPH
Our final chosen presenter, Ann Catherine Celi, MD, MPH, is an internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her presentation, Patient Feedback on an Educational Tool After Hypertensive Pregnancy, hones in on a study that examines the utility, acceptability, and feasibility of a discussion guide and knowledge retention in postpartum hypertensive patients. The discussion guide aimed to educate patients and arm them with the tools to engage in their care.
The purposes of her presentation are multidimensional. In addition to speaking to the utility and acceptability of the guide for ethnically, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse patients, Celi looks to gain feedback from the United States’ vibrant workforce of doulas and other birthworkers to enhance its efficacy.
Despite the variation in the named interventions, our presenters remain united in their efforts to work within systems to spark social change in the field of maternal health. We are humbled and honored to showcase their work. Congratulations to our winners!
Visit the schedule to see the full list of abstract presentations.
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