Virginia Union University launches second 6-month doula training program for students, alumni

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia Union University (VUU) is the first historically black collegiate institution to launch a second doula training program in Virginia.

"We know that there are significant disparities when it comes to black maternal health, [and] we know that our women of African American descent are dying, unfortunately, at disproportionate rates compared to their white counterparts," said Felicia Cosby, Dean of VUU Technical Surgery. "We wanted to do something in this area as part of our social justice in making sure that we could indeed train young people in this area to help with our community and to help address this issue."

VUU, in partnership with maternal healthcare advocacy organization Birth in Color, was able to use a $40,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Health to spearhead a six-month doula certification program in the fall of 2024, allowing for ten students and alumni to participate.

Dean Cosby told 8News that the program gained popularity. Funding was then able to be allocated for another program to begin this spring.

(Photo: Kenda Sutton-El, Founder and Executive Director of Birth In Color)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women.

"What we do know is that 82% of those deaths are preventable," said Kenda Sutton-El, founder and executive director of Birth in Color. "So we have to go back to the basics and talk about, 'Is racism a factor in this?' If 82% of the deaths are preventable, then, yes, it is a factor."

Birth in Color works hand-in-hand with health care providers and systems along with legislators to address maternal mortality rates for Black women. The organization also assists in doula certification -- which is how it has partnered with VUU.

Sutton-El said doulas are essential before, during and after childbirth.

"Having a doula helps change cesarean rates, helps to use [fewer] interventions for births and helps with preterm birth rates, as well," Sutton-El said. "We're asking those questions that no one gets to ask those parents. We're going to the houses [and] we're seeing if they need food and if they have food insecurity issues — we're targeting all those social determinants of health."

8News had the chance to speak with one of last year's program participants, Maya Armstead. She said she was pleased to have the chance to receive this training after seeing her sister, who lives in Korea, had to prepare to give birth at 33 weeks with short notice.

"With her finding out so late in her term, she wasn't able to give all of that support that was needed in the beginning -- and her having to catch up and [making] sure [she] caught those early signs, whether it was preeclampsia or things like that ... I became really worried about her," Armstead said. "I've always been a person that wants to help others and be able to change other people's lives, so this couldn't have come at a better time. I'm hoping that, with us being the first ten, we will be able to bring more people on and it will be able to grow into something bigger and better."

Similar to the first doula certification program, only ten VUU students and alumni will be able to participate in the upcoming second program, which will begin on March 25.

Cosby confirmed the university will open the program up to the greater community this summer.

For more information, contact Dean Felicia Cosby at (804) 901-1252 or at fdcosby@vuu.edu.