dou•la
/,dū’lah
noun • verb
supporter, educator, advocate for pregnant, birthing, adopting, surrogate, and postpartum people and families; change agent
A birth doula is a companion who supports a birthing person during labor and birth. They are trained to provide continuous, one-on-one care, as well as information, physical support, and emotional support to birthing persons and their partners.
The list of benefits of a doula is long, including:
- Reduces the incidence of c-sections
- May shorten the length of labor
- Reduces epidural and analgesic requests
- Increases breastfeeding initiation and continuation
- Increases birthing persons’ satisfaction with the birth experience
- Can reduce the incidence of postpartum mood disorders
- Increases new parents’ confidence in the care of their newborn
Omaha Better Birth Project believes that a family’s income should not be a barrier to accessing these essential childbirth services. We help eliminate this barrier by providing grants to eligible families for birth doula services.
Eligibility:
- Must EITHER (1) meet the low-income criteria per the Nebraska WIC guidelines OR (2) be 19 years of age or less
- Must be planning to birth in the Omaha metro area
- Must be between 15 and 32 weeks pregnant
NOTE: Families who wish to have a Birth AND Postpartum doula must apply for BOTH grants. Receiving a birth doula grant does not enroll in or award the family a postpartum doula grant, or vice versa.
Requirements:
- Grant recipients are responsible for signing the grant agreement and submitting proof of income and identification documents.
- Grant recipients are responsible for hiring a professionally certified birth doula of their choice, ensuring the doula’s availability for the recipient’s estimated due date.
- Grant recipients are responsible for any cost of the hired doula beyond the grant value of $1,200.
- Grant recipients must notify Omaha Better Birth Project of their selected doula.
- Grant recipients must agree and commit to any contracts or agreements between the doula and themselves.
- Grant recipients must agree to complete a postpartum follow-up survey from Omaha Better Birth Project about their birth experience, outcomes, and the grant process.
The current grant value is $1,200 to be used toward the purchase of labor support services from any professionally certified doula serving the greater Omaha metro.
For questions, please email our Grants Program Coordinator at becky@omahabetterbirth.org.
Select a link below to learn about our other programs: