Mississippi CHAMPS: Integrating Maternity Care Teams

CHEER has been awarded a three-year, $750,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to develop a hospital-based model for integrating doulas into maternity care teams in Mississippi. CHAMPS will partner with community doulas, hospitals, and leaders in maternal-child health equity — including Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE), a nationally recognized nonprofit that promotes breastfeeding among Black families — to design a sustainable, community-informed model for doula integration. The project will emphasize racial equity, institutional collaboration, and systems change, while making the case for Medicaid and private insurance coverage for doula care.

Research shows doulas improve breastfeeding rates, reduce cesarean births and pain medication use, enhance respectful care, and reduce racial disparities in maternal health. Yet doulas are underutilized in Mississippi hospitals, and Medicaid in the state does not reimburse for doula services. In contrast, as of October 2025, 46 states and Washington, D.C. have taken steps toward Medicaid coverage for doula care, and 24 are actively reimbursing, with Vermont, Arkansas, Utah, Louisiana, and Montana passing laws in 2025 to expand access.

Over the grant period, CHAMPS will conduct statewide assessments of both doula care and hospital readiness to integrate doulas into maternity teams; enroll pilot hospitals to implement sustainable doula integration policies and protocols; provide training for doulas on breastfeeding and evidence-based maternity care practices; and collect breastfeeding and maternity care data to measure impact and demonstrate the value of doula integration. Additionally, we will continue to support the 26 MS CHAMPS hospitals in maintaining Baby-Friendly designation and sustaining the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.