More than a dozen pregnant women — a few joined by partners and children — gathered in a circle at the Morgan Park Blue Door Neighborhood Center℠ on Chicago’s South Side.
Doula Lesley Kennedy of Chicago Birthworks Collective opened the weekly session of the Nurture Prenatal Care Cohort checking in on everyone’s well-being before guiding the group’s discussion.
For more than an hour, the participants, 22 to 36 weeks pregnant, shared struggles and solutions for indigestion, getting sleep and advocating for their mental and physical needs.
Kennedy reminded them of the autonomy they possess over their bodies and their birth plans. She urged them to ask questions and make decisions. “This is not a passive experience,” she said. “This is one of the most powerful experiences of your life.”
The doula-led cohort held at Morgan Park is among three free community groups Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois launched in partnership with its BDNC locations and health care providers to help improve maternal and infant health outcomes. The groups — Nurture, Mothers’ Support Group and New Mom’s Support and Social Group — offer education and peer support throughout pregnancy and postpartum.
“The support you receive by someone going through the same thing is invaluable,” said Yvette Davis, a licensed clinical social worker with perinatal mental health certification and clinical program specialist for BCBSIL. “I want to see more people have awareness of these groups and what they can do for people. You can feel pretty isolated without support.”
Tayo Mbanda and her mother, Toni Taylor, established Chicago Birthworks Collective to help women of color gain confidence and knowledge about childbirth preparation, postpartum recovery, lactation and newborn care.
“It’s a model of education in an environmentally safe space for everyone, and they can let their guard down,” Mbanda said. “We are eliminating barriers, and moms are getting to make good choices. When you take care of them, they are not stressed.”
Data leads to action
Four years ago, BCBSIL medical directors came across stark internal data that supported what they already knew: Many pregnant Medicaid members delivered with complications because of behavioral health conditions, substance use disorders or both.
Additionally, members with behavioral health and substance use disorders were less likely to get prenatal care. But commercially insured women also faced poorer outcomes, regardless of income, education and insurance coverage.
That information spurred action. The medical directors started the Mothers’ group, now held virtually and in-person at the Pullman BDNC, to help pregnant women and those up to one year postpartum. During the eight-week program, topics about physical and behavioral health during pregnancy are led by a midwife and behavioral health counselor.
“The best part of the Mothers’ group is moms are becoming their own best advocate,” said Dr. Gioia Herring-Williams, one of the founding medical directors. “They can be intimidated by it. At the group, they get information and support so they can confidently interact with providers and stop being bystanders to their own health care.”
They added the New Mom’s Support and Social Group to reach more women and families at different pregnancy and postpartum stages. The New Mom’s group, facilitated virtually and in person by licensed yoga and psychotherapy professionals, invites anyone who has given birth, no matter how long ago, to learn through group discussion and shared experiences.
“I’m most proud of the participants developing their networks of moms and being in a place to share with other moms,” Herring-Williams said. “This is your body. We want to empower you.”
In addition to working with community partners to improve maternal and infant health, BCBSIL has expanded access to maternal care for members, covering doulas, licensed certified professional midwives, lactation consultants and maternal home visit providers through its health plans.
Joining a sisterhood
At the conclusion of the six-week Nurture cohort, participants selected a doula from Chicago Birthworks to provide support as their due dates approached.
Although Daynida Nelson, pregnant with her first child, joined the group to take advantage of the free service, she came away feeling part of a sisterhood. She gave birth to her son a few weeks after the cohort ended.
“I appreciated we were all in the same community,” Nelson said. “Everyone was very willing to listen. They were all leading with their hearts.”
The cohort also provided the information she sought in a supportive and calm environment.
“That was the most important part,” Nelson said. “I wanted to learn from the experience. I definitely would recommend it.”
