American Indian/Alaska Native birthing people in the United States face profound inequities during and around the time of childbirth. This has long been true and continues to be true, with headline after headline indicating loss of maternity services in rural and tribal communities, workforce shortages, financial challenges, and safety concerns. These and other challenges result in growing disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality, with American Indian/Alaska Native people being at least 3 times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white people.

Dr. Kozhimannil will discuss these and other barriers to safe and healthy birth for Indigenous people through examination of historical and contemporary factors that shape these inequities. She will also lead participants in looking forward by discussing clinical, public health, and policy efforts that may decrease maternal mortality and improve equity for Indigenous people, including through highlighting positive changes already happening in Indigenous communities across the country.

*This session was originally recorded live as part of the 2024 DONA Summit.

Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #17981, for 1.00 Contact Hours. Licensee must retain this document for a period of four years after the course concludes.

Birth justice is a movement led by Black women and people of color that seeks to recognize systemic inequalities and empower people in communities in the pregnancy and birthing process. In 2023, Elephant Circle conducted a landscape analysis of birth justice in the US using mixed methods. A quarter of survey respondents identified as Doulas. This presentation examines the results of the analysis related to Doulas including their demographic characteristics, experiences of discrimination, involvement in networks, services provided, extent of community organizing work and advocacy activities, sustainability, and compensation. We will present insights on how to best support Doulas to provide Birth Justice services and avoid burnout and moral injury. Finally, we will reveal our interactive tool for advocacy and education about birth justice. The presentation will shed light on how to integrate, uplift, and replicate birth justice values and practices to improve equity in the care provided by Doulas. This session qualifies for 1 contact hour (DEI/Cultural Comp)

When deciding which type of business structure is right for your existing or new US-based doula business, you may have many questions. Determining what is best is dependent on many factors, including your business size, whether you intend to have any employees, and what your financial situation looks like at this time. In this session, we will examine the differences between a sole proprietorship, LLC, and a corporation and highlight the pros and cons of each structure. Additionally, we explore the various corporation types that exist and the benefits of those business formations.

DONA Leadership invites DONA members to our annual membership meeting!

Each year the DONA International Board of Directors holds a membership meeting during the meeting you’ll hear from leadership with a report from the prior year as well as what’s coming in the future! Join us for this fun and informative meeting and get to know your leadership and DONA happenings even better.

Attendees will receive 1 DONA Contact hour for attendance at the membership meeting.

Things to expect:

• State of DONA International
• Reports from all areas (Membership, Education, Certification, and Financial, DEI, Advocacy etc.)
• Highlights from the past year
• Highlights of current and upcoming projects
• Ways to get involved and help your voice be heard
• 2025 In-Person Conference Announcement

Join us for this annual meeting and learn about what's happening from you DONA leadership! 

This session is sponsored by:

Join DONA Advocacy Committee member, Dusti Murray with a how-to tutorial on how to complete a CMS 1500/Superbill form. This form is useful for Medicaid reimbursement, but it can also be used as a super bill to give families or submit to other agencies, such as TriCare.

This short tutorial is free for DONA members and does not earn continuing education hours. 

DONA International as a membership organization seeks to partner with organizations, associations, and businesses that benefit our mission, vision, and DONA Doulas world-wide.  We are excited to partner with DoulaDo which offers a client management software system for doulas. To learn more about Doulado and the DONA/DoulaDo partnership, please enjoy this town hall and visit the website link at: https://www.doulado.co/dona

This DONA Town Hall is for informational purposes and DOES NOT constitute approved continuing education for certification. The town hall will not have a certificate of completion.  

Successful and impactful birth/pregnancy practitioners need knowledge and skills to engage in equitable practices with populations that experience poverty, immigrant populations, and people of color.  There are avoidable and unjust inequities in access to healthcare, quality of care, childbirth, and birth outcomes based on social identities such as race, immigration status, and class.  According to the CDC, black mothers in the U.S. die at three to four times the rate of white mothers, one of the widest of all racial disparities in women’s health. A black woman is 22 percent more likely to die from heart disease than a white woman, 71 percent more likely to perish from cervical cancer, but 243 percent more likely to die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes. In a national study of five medical complications that are common causes of maternal death and injury, black women were two to three times more likely to die than white women who had the same condition. About one in five black and Hispanic women report poor treatment from hospital staff due to race, ethnicity, cultural background, or language. Compared with 8% of white mothers, 21% of black mothers and 19% of Hispanic mothers report experiencing poor treatment while hospitalized to give birth. These data reflect social, economic, institutional, and systemic inequities that require immediate action on the part of birth/pregnancy practitioners. That action starts with education about and a commitment to health equity.

Count the Kicks is a dynamic public health program developed in 2008 by Happy Birthday Inc. centering on stillbirth prevention. Their goal is for it to be standard care for all birthing people to count kicks in the third trimester. In this session (recorded Dec 2023), Christine Tucker, Health Equity Coordinator, and TaKiesha Smith, Indiana Ambassador, from Count the Kicks will share evidence on Count the Kicks and discuss ways the doulas can integrate It with their clients. 

1.0 Contact Hours- DONA Town hall that took place on December 7, 2023

https://countthekicks.org/ 

In this session, you will have the opportunity to:
• Gain knowledge about the Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration
• Understand the criteria to become a part of our network
• Learn about the participating countries

This DONA Town Hall is for informational purposes and DOES NOT constitute approved continuing education for certification and therefore will not have a certificate of completion. 

The International Childbirth Initiative is a global movement that includes obstetricians, midwives, and doulas working together to advance safe and respectful MotherBaby-Family-centered care. Throughout 2023, we added hospitals and birth centers around the world and have worked to advance training and support for doulas around the world. In this session, Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Michelle Skaer Therrien, Executive Director of the International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) share the 12 steps for safe and respectful care, the role of doulas, and our work to improve collaboration among healthcare professionals and integration of doulas into health systems.

1.5 DONA Contact Hours

https://icichildbirth.org/