Maternity care firm Pomelo Care has acquired The Doula Community, the businesses introduced on Tuesday. Historically, Pomelo Care solely affords digital care, however as a result of acquisition, Pomelo Care can now additionally provide private help.

New York Metropolis-based Pomelo Care connects sufferers with a care group that features obstetric and pediatric care suppliers, nurses, dietitians and therapists. Sufferers can meet with their care group at any time by way of textual content, telephone, or video. With The Doula Community, primarily based in Orlando, Florida, sufferers achieve entry to a community of delivery doulas, one-on-one visits throughout being pregnant and postpartum, customized delivery help, and help between visits by way of textual content, electronic mail, or telephone. Each corporations work with well being plans, together with Medicaid plans.

By the acquisition, Pomelo Care integrates The Doula Community into its care mannequin. Along with receiving all of Pomelo Care's current providers, sufferers can now be paired with a neighborhood doula. The doula can present sufferers with emotional, bodily and academic help earlier than and after delivery. By the acquisition of The Doula Community, Pomelo Care now has greater than 15 million lined lives, together with one in six Medicaid beneficiaries.

“In recent times, we now have seen a major motion towards holistic care fashions that tackle a affected person's medical, behavioral and social wants,” Marta Bralic Kerns, founder and CEO of Pomelo Care, mentioned in an electronic mail. “Excessive-quality healthcare is about rather more than simply prognosis, treatment and surgical procedure. It's about understanding the entire particular person and their distinctive wants. This acquisition permits us to proceed our work and supply complete maternity care to our sufferers. However now we may also be with them of their neighborhood, at their facet throughout this vital time of their lives.”

Phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed. Doula Community Founder and CEO Elizabeth Simmons has assumed the function of Head of Doula Community for Pomelo Care. She mentioned that as a mixed firm, Pomelo Care and The Doula Community could have a significant affect on maternal well being outcomes.

“By the acquisition of The Doula Community, Pomelo Care is increasing much-needed entry to evidence-based maternity care and galvanizing the nationwide doula ecosystem,” Simmons mentioned in an announcement. “With a worsening maternal and baby well being disaster and too many ladies not realizing the place to show for help, this acquisition will permit us to scale our doula community and meet quickly growing industrial and Medicaid demand to community-oriented doulas.”

Based on the newest information from 2015, solely 6% of birthing moms obtain doula care. Nonetheless, momentum is growing, with 13 states and Washington DC requiring Medicaid reimbursement for doula providers, and 30 further states at the moment looking for doula reimbursement, based on the announcement.

Doulas have additionally confirmed to achieve success. Based on the College of Washington, ladies who’re supported by a doula are much less prone to have a cesarean part or have a low delivery weight child.

“With our new, built-in care mannequin, we’re working to considerably increase entry to evidence-based maternity care within the U.S. and meet the rising industrial and Medicaid demand for community-based doulas,” mentioned Bralic Kerns. “We’re additionally working to set a brand new commonplace for maternity care, the place everybody has 24-hour entry to digital medical care and the on-site help they want throughout their being pregnant.”

Different maternal well being corporations that supply doula help embrace Mae and Partum Well being.

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