BATON ROUGE — Louisiana is working to reduce its high maternal mortality rate by signing into law certain doula services to be covered through Medicaid.

Doulas do not deliver babies, but they provide emotional, physical and informational support to mothers before, during, and after pregnancy.

Doula E'Keidra Lanehart received her doula license five years ago and has been supporting women throughout their pregnancy journeys. Lanehart said more mothers will be able to afford and reap the benefits of the holistic care.

“At the end of the day, I’m not just their advocate, I’m their confidant too because it’s needed throughout pregnancy and after for sure,” Lanehart said.

House Bill 454 was signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry in June and went into effect on August 1. Representative Dustin Milled authored the bill, and several other lawmakers co-sponsored it. Representative Terry Landry said he wanted to be a part of the push to help save the lives of mothers.

“My standpoint was anything that I can do to help Louisiana mothers, especially those on Medicaid, to go through that process and make the childbearing process a little smoother, a little easier, let them have that emotional support as well as the physical support," Landry said.

The Medicaid coverage includes five prenatal visits up to 90 minutes each, three post partum visits up to 90 minutes each, and labor and delivery support.

Lanehart said these Medicaid-covered services will help both moms and doulas.

“It will give the doulas constant and consistent income as well,” she said.

According to the March of Dimes 2024 report, nearly 37 mothers die for every 100,000 births in the state compared to the national average of 23.

The Louisiana Department of Health said the maternal mortality rate is even worse for black mothers. In its 2020 statistics report, black mothers are two and a half times more likely to die than white mothers. Black women made up 37 percent of all births and account for 62 percent of pregnancy-associated deaths.

“A lot of things go overlooked and underestimated when it comes to us, when it comes to our levels of pain,” Lanehart said.

Lanehart said mothers having a doula as their advocate during birth makes the experience less of a nightmare.

“Just to have someone that is with you throughout the way, and paying attention, and even tailoring support to each specific mother's needs,” she said.