Readiness to Implement a Doula-Hospital Partnership Program.

OBJECTIVE: To assess obstetric clinicians' and leaders' baseline knowledge, attitudes, and experience with doulas and their readiness to implement a novel doula-hospital partnership program.

DESIGN: Survey of obstetric clinicians and leaders before implementation of the doula program.

SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: Academic medical center in Western Massachusetts that was preparing to pilot a doula-hospital partnership program with Black doulas for Black women to address racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality.

PARTICIPANTS: Obstetric clinicians and leaders (N = 48).

INTERVENTION/MEASUREMENTS: We used established questions from the Organizational Readiness for Implementing Change (ORIC) scale and original questions to assess participants' knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with doulas and their readiness to implement the planned doula program. We distributed the questionnaire to 103 potential respondents. We conducted descriptive and bivariate analyses and analyzed open-ended responses using content analysis.

RESULTS: A total of 48 participants responded to the survey. Of those who provided intrapartum care (n = 45), all were familiar with doula roles. Of those respondents who reported having experience in working with doulas, 47.3% (n = 18/38) had at least one prior negative experience with a doula and 76.3% (n = 29/38) reported positive experiences with doulas. However, there was a mean score of 12.62 on the attitude toward doulas scale (range: 3-15), and 76.3% (n = 29/38) of participants reported positive experiences with doulas. The mean score on the ORIC change commitment subscale was 20.65 (range: 15-25), and the mean score on the ORIC change efficacy subscale was 29.31 (range: 19-35). Results did not differ by participant characteristics.

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested strong support for and readiness to implement the doula-hospital partnership program.