New York pilot program expands Medicaid coverage to Brooklyn doulas
ALBANY— New York state’s health department is launching a pilot program expanding Medicaid coverage to doula services in an effort to reduce childbirth complications for women and babies.
The pilot will launch in March in Erie County and parts of Brooklyn. This month, health officials will launch training and education efforts.
Doulas are non-medical birth coaches who assist women before, during and after childbirth. They have been shown to increase positive health outcomes related to childbirth.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.