Doula Alliance of Arkansas aims to improve maternal health [Video]

“I really look at doulas as the soldiers in a maternal health revolution,” Doula Alliance of Arkansas co-founder Liyah Wasson said.

ARKANSAS, USA — With Arkansas being known for having the highest maternal mortality rate in the country, a new organization has been formed with goals to improve and support maternal health across the Natural State.

The Doula Alliance of Arkansas, which got started with the help of a $250,000 grant, aims to expand access to quality doula services.

“We give you like the guide. We help you through you know the exercises and what you need to do to prepare yourself for like the big sprint, the big race, which is giving birth,” Liyah Wasson, one of the alliance’s founders, said. “I really look at doulas as the soldiers in a maternal health revolution.”

Wasson and co-founder Sondra Rodocker said doulas have become more popular since the pandemic.

“When mothers were giving birth they were really restricting …