Doula care, birth outcomes, and costs among medicaid beneficiaries

K.B. Kozhimannil, R.R. Hardeman, L.B. Attanasio, C. Blauer-Peterson and M. O'Brien

American Journal of Public Health, 2013, vol. 103, issue 4, e113-e121

Abstract: Objectives: We compared childbirth-related outcomes for Medicaid recipients who received prenatal education and childbirth support from trained doulas with outcomes from a national sample of similar women and estimated potential cost savings. Methods: We calculated descriptive statistics for Medicaid-funded births nationally (from the 2009 Nationwide Inpatient Sample; n = 279 008) and births supported by doula care (n = 1079) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2010 to 2012; used multivariate regression to estimate impacts of doula care; and modeled potential cost savings associated with reductions in cesarean delivery for doula-supported births. Results: The cesarean rate was 22.3% among doula-supported births and 31.5% among Medicaid beneficiaries nationally. The corresponding preterm birth rates were 6.1% and 7.3%, respectively. After control for clinical and sociodemographic factors, odds of cesarean delivery were 40.9% lower for doula-supported births (adjusted odds ratio = 0.59; P

Keywords: adult; article; cesarean section; clinical competence; doula; economics; female; human; labor; medicaid; newborn; pregnancy; pregnancy outcome; prematurity; prenatal care; statistical model; statistics; United States, Adult; Cesarean Section; Clinical Competence; Doulas; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Labor, Obstetric; Logistic Models; Medicaid; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome; Prenatal Care; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2012.301201_1

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301201

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