Project Grant US954301

The Rural Health Association of Tennessee (RHA) received a $450,000 per year, 4-year Project Grant award from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy under the CFDA 93.912 Rural Health Care Services Outreach, Rural Health Network Development and Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement program. The grant will fund the Tennessee Delta Doula Network project, which aims to increase the number of healthcare providers and paraprofessionals trained on providing culturally sensitive, coordinated care during prenatal, labor, and postpartum stages of pregnancy for Medicaid-eligible women in 18 rural Delta counties. Key project activities include recruiting and training 30 certified labor doulas, conducting provider education and outreach, and providing 280-300 doula service scholarships, including telehealth services. The goal is to establish a sustainable network that matches doulas with expecting mothers and facilitates cross-sector referrals between healthcare providers, community organizations, and trained doulas.