Submission Type: Practice-BasedÂ
Final Rating: Best PracticeÂ
Date Submitted: Spring 2025
Focus Area: Healthy Environments and RelationshipsÂ
Focus Population: Children, Medical Providers, Parents
Contact Information:
Omare Jimmerson
Executive Director
(918) 633-2867
Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative
7030 S Yale, Tulsa, OK 74136
Goals and Outcomes:
Planned approach: This proposed project will allow OKBEI to accomplish its goals using a multi-pronged strategy:Â
• Create the demand for CBDs in the target population through partnerships, communication, awareness, and education.
• Fill the demand by preparing well-trained CBDs that serve the target population.
As a result, more OK women in the target population have access to no/low cost, high-quality CBD services, which are shown to improve maternal health outcomes. Another intended outcome will be the meaningful employment and workforce development for the women in rural Oklahoma.Â
An innovative community approach that has been successfully implemented in Tulsa using the hub-andspoke model has been successfully implemented for CBDs in other states. OKBEI proposes a unique model by partnering with community organizations and Career Tech campuses across the state to disseminate information on CBD training in their course catalog and provide instructional facilities for both OKBEI and independent Community-Based Doula Trainers (CBDTs) supported by OKBEI (this is the model that has been successful in Tulsa).
Overarching Goal: OKBEI will facilitate a replicable high-quality CBD training, continuing education program and certification support in two rural OK counties, focusing on the most vulnerable populations in maternal health desserts, who will, in turn, provide community-based doula supports, resulting in maternal health outcomes that exceed state averages for those served.
Overarching Outcome: As a result of the increase in maternal health support services, OK’s maternal health outcomes, specifically related to Healthy People 2030 targets, will show improvement for the target population.
Objective 1: Increase the demand for highly qualified CBDs to serve the target population by: building partnerships in two OK communities; listening to and learning from the target population; providing medical education for providers in the communities; and completing a comprehensive outreach and awareness campaign.
Outcome 1.1: Hold at least two listening sessions in each of 2 OK rural communities, gathering information from the target population that can be used in creating an implementation strategy for the project, and engaging them to join OKBEI in the project goal.
Outcome 1.2: Conduct outreach and awareness campaigns in two OK rural communities, leveraging 200,000 reaches each year.
Outcome 1.3: Engage with at least 40 medical providers and healthcare staff in 2 OK rural communities, providing medical education on maternal health and the role of CBDs, resulting in at least 85% of participants showing increased knowledge in pre- and post-tests.Â
Objective 2: Fill the demand for highly qualified CBDs to serve the target population by supporting the training of at least 60 CBDs that can serve at least 1250 women in the target population.
Outcome 2.1: OKBEI will aim to identify and train at least 10 CBD Trainers (CBDTs) in 2 rural communities across OK, resulting in 80% of CBDTs reporting they have the skills and resources to train at least 30 new CBDs annually who can serve the target population.
Outcome 2.2: Provide additional support for 4 CBD trainings across 2 rural communities, to ensure CBDTs can train at least 30 CBDs in the target population annually.
Outcome 2.3: Create an online peer mentor network for OK CBDs, resulting in at least 432 CBDs participating and 90% reporting their CBD career has been positively impacted by the network (this includes those trained in Tulsa area).
Outcome 2.4: At least 80% of trained doulas will receive certification and at least 90% of certified doulas will recertify annually (this includes those trained in Tulsa area).
Outcome 2.5: Offer at least 12 hours of high-quality continuing education credits (CECs) resulting in 95% of attendees showing increased knowledge after completing the CEC (this includes those trained in Tulsa area).
Brief Summary:
The Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative (OKBEI) works to equip families to have healthy births with dignity through a comprehensive, community-centered program that addresses the stark disparities in birth outcomes among marginalized populations in Oklahoma. Our initiative recognizes that birth equity is fundamental to achieving overall health equity and aims to dismantle systemic barriers that perpetuate inequities in maternal and infant health. Healthcare access for Black and Brown pregnant people is one of OKBEI's founding values, rooted in our commitment to reducing infant and maternal death rates.Â
OKBEI seeks support from the Oklahoma Clearinghouse to further our mission of improving birth outcomes and promoting maternal health among underserved communities within maternal health deserts across Oklahoma. OKBEI is looking to expand our doula training to create doula access to women in these areas, while simultaneously creating a doula workforce able to bill Medicaid for services.
The Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative (OKBEI) proposes to serve pregnant and postpartum individuals in the state of Oklahoma (OK) through this project, which will expand culturally competent community-based doula (CBD) training and services in key areas across the state. Maternal health deserts contribute to the high mortality rates in OK. In 2022, the March of Dimes reported that 57% of OK counties lack hospitals with obstetric care, birth centers, and OB/GYNs. This forces pregnant rural citizens to travel (often for hours) to receive prenatal care, increasing their costs for care and jeopardizing their income and employment, as they must accrue significant leave from work just to pursue basic prenatal care.
The Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative represents a collaborative effort to address the root causes of maternal and infant health disparities and create a more equitable and just healthcare system for all Oklahoma residents. By centering the voices and experiences of marginalized communities, we aim to achieve lasting improvements in birth outcomes and maternal health outcomes, ultimately advancing health equity for generations to come. We recognize and seek to eliminate the racial disparities in Oklahoma's birth outcomes.
Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative | Home