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Doulas: A Formal Part of CA Health Care System – Birthing While Black Part 2

BLACK VOICE NEWS — While California boasts one of the lowest pregnancy-related mortalities in the nation, the latest available data from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) that covers the period of 2017-2019 shows that the pregnancy-related mortality rate is 47.3 per 100,000 births for Black people compared to 11.1 for White people, 12.6 for Hispanic people and 14.0 for Asian people.
The post Doulas: A Formal Part of CA Health Care System – Birthing While Black Part 2 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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4 years ago

October 2, 2022

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CA acknowledges doula services as part of the solution to reduce maternal mortality

By Breanna Reeves | Black Voice News

The topics of Black maternal mortality and pregnancy-related death have become more prevalent over the last decade as the U.S. has been identified as having one of the worst maternal mortality rates among high-income countries.

A report published by the Commonwealth Fund found that the U.S. had the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations: 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020. That rate is double for Black maternal mortality: 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births.

While California boasts one of the lowest pregnancy-related mortalities in the nation, the latest available data from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) that covers the period of 2017-2019 shows that the pregnancy-related mortality rate is 47.3 per 100,000 births for Black people compared to 11.1 for White people, 12.6 for Hispanic people and 14.0 for Asian people.

Available data for maternal mortality rates across race/ethnicity for Riverside and San Bernardino Counties are not available for public access. According to a representative from the California Department of Public Health, the agency “does not publish pregnancy-related death counts or pregnancy-related mortality ratios (PRMR) by race/ethnicity at the county or regional level to maintain data confidentiality and ensure statistical stability,” but noted that across the state, Black birthing people “continue to have the highest PRMR.”

The disproportionate rate at which Black women and birthing people die from pregnancy-related deaths is not new to Black doulas.

Chantel Runnels has been a doula for 14 years, something she said she was “called to do.” Family history of fatal maternal health care, a desire to see public health care change and her own pregnancy experience served as catalysts for her becoming a doula. She was introduced to the Sankofa Birthworkers Collective, an Inland Empire-based organization, through a friend who is a midwife.

A midwife is an individual who is medically trained to assist with labor and delivery and provides prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care, as well as family planning care. The Sankofa Birthworkers Collective consists of a well-rounded group of birthworkers including licensed midwives, postpartum doulas, lactation specialists, maternal mental health experts and midwives-in-training.

“To be around other Black women who may have secondary or tertiary lines of work that affect Black maternal health care or are directly in Black maternal health care was really attractive to me,” Runnels explained. “To be a part of a community of women who live across the [Inland Empire], who come from different demographics, but want to support each other and just wanted to come together was super attractive.”

Married for nearly 15 years and a mother of four, Runnels provides services to a diverse clientele, some who pay out of pocket for private services, others who receive free services through community-based programs like Sankofa or through insurance programs like the Doula Access Program.

Chantel Runnels explains her role as a doula during a panel at the Inland Empire Perinatal Equity Provider and Community Summit at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA on September 16, 2022 (Aryana Noroozi for Black Voice News/CatchLight Local).

Runnels explained that as the need for doulas grows, doula training is that much more important to help ensure that they are trained to meet the needs of the community and have the availability to serve clients.

“This is why compensation for doulas is important, too, because the wages that doulas are paid can’t really compensate for the availability that’s required for the job,” Runnels explained.

As the state began to recognize the invaluable services provided by doulas, legislation to implement doula services throughout the state was introduced prior to the start of the pandemic.

Elevating, expanding, standardizing and compensating doulas in CA

In February 2020, Majority Leader of the California State Assembly Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) introduced Assembly Bill 2258 which aimed to lower maternal and infant maternal mortality rates in California by launching a three-year Medi-Cal pilot program to provide doula services in 14 counties with the highest birth disparities. The bill fell through when the COVID-19 pandemic shifted priorities in March 2020.

The momentum to introduce legislation that addressed maternal mortality picked up again when Governor Gavin Newsom budgeted funding for a Medi-Cal benefit, which will allow doulas to be reimbursed for full spectrum care rendered to Medi-Cal enrollees. In order to add these services as a benefit, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is required to submit a State Plan Amendment (SPA) to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and receive federal approval — essentially an agreement between the state and federal government on how their Medicaid program will operate and assures the state will abide by federal rules.

Over the last year, DHCS has worked with stakeholders from across California including birthworkers, doulas and community organizations to develop a comprehensive SPA that specifies what doula coverage will look like under Medi-Cal, including the scope of services. Following the first draft of the SPA, a coalition of stakeholders made recommendations for an updated version of the SPA that requested the need for specific language to define doula care and services.

The letter recommended revising the definition of a doula to specify the types of services and support they offer. Part of the letter recommended that the SPA add: “The doula care provided will offer any and all aspects of full-spectrum doula care, including prenatal and postpartum or post-pregnancy doula care, continuous presence during labor and delivery, and doula support during miscarriage, stillbirth and abortion. Doula care includes physical, emotional and other nonmedical care.”

Alexis Robles-Fradet is a Health Policy Analyst at National Health Law Program (NHeLP) in Los Angeles, CA, and drafted the coalition letter in April. Alongside Amy Chen, a senior attorney at NHeLP and member of the stakeholder group, Robles-Fradet has published several reports about the components of successful doula programs and pilot doula programs in other counties as part of the Doula Medicaid Project, launched in 2018.

One of the biggest challenges with finalizing the SPA has been the reimbursement rate offered. The initial proposed rate was one of the lowest rates in the country. Upon receiving the first draft of the SPA from DHCS, the coalition noted in the letter: “We do not believe this benefit will be successful if the reimbursement rate is $450.”

After receiving and reviewing a draft of the State Amendment Plan, a coalition of stakeholders and advocates drafted a letter in response, outlining changes to the plan such as defining a doula’s role and recommending an increase to the offered reimbursement rate of $450. (Graphic by Breanna Reeves).

With the high cost of living in California and the amount of time doulas spend with their clients, Robles-Fradet explained that $450 is not a living wage and would be a barrier to getting the necessary workforce to cover Medi-Cal patients. Medi-Cal covered more than half of all births in California in 2019.

“Doulas deserve to be paid a fair wage. I know we talk about [a] living wage, but I think we should shift into thriving wages, like they’re doing great work and they’ve been doing this great work for so long,” Robles-Fradet stated. “They know how to support their communities.”

Robles-Fradet explained that listening to the doulas and making sure that the benefit will be equitable for them are important factors that will contribute to the success of the Medi-Cal benefit.

As a member of the stakeholder group, Runnels said that the group has worked “tirelessly” to demonstrate that the situation is nuanced. One of the first tasks for DHCS and the stakeholder group was to define doula services and qualifications since it isn’t defined in state law.

“The doula stakeholders did emphasize to us that the length of service in terms of time that they were spending with individuals needed to be considered since doula services typically last significantly longer than other visits with a licensed practitioner,” said René Mollow, Deputy Director of Health Care Benefits & Eligibility.

Mollow explained that doula services as a benefit will be offered through both the Medicare fee-for-service delivery system and Managed Care delivery systems, so doulas will need to be enrolled as Medi-Cal providers and will have contracts with Managed Care plans.

“The majority of covered populations in our program here in California are served through Medi-Cal managed care plans,” Mollow added. “So, that’s where we would expect to see the bulk of the services being provided.”

Following several stakeholder meetings, feedback from birthworkers and Governor Gavin Newsom’s revised 2022-23 budget, California’s current proposed reimbursement rate has increased to $1,154 with one initial visit paid at $126.31, eight perinatal visits paid at $60.48 per visit and one labor and delivery visit paid at $544.28.

“California is such a large state. We have so many births a year. The cost of living for doulas and families in San Francisco varies greatly to doulas and families that are serving Barstow,” Runnels clarified. “And so, helping them understand that the original rate…was embarrassing. Even other states do better than that. And the rate that they’ve come to now is still embarrassing.”

There are more than 400,000 births each year in California which is roughly one-eighth of all U.S. births, nearly half of which are paid for by Medi-Cal, according to the California Health Care Foundation. Comparatively, in 2020, there were 39,817 births in Oregon. In June 2022, Oregon updated its SPA to increase the doula reimbursement rate to $1,500.

“I am so grateful for the work that the State Plan Amendment workgroup is doing to really work on this,” Runnels stated. “[But] also, it still does not reflect how critical the role of a doula is in addressing maternal health care in the state of California, particularly for those most vulnerable, which are Black women.”

Stakeholder meetings are ongoing as the group continues to discuss the SPA and work on developing a Provider Manual. DHCS plans to publish a public notice and formally submit the SPA in September.

This article is the second in a series produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2022 California Fellowship.

The post Doulas: A Formal Part of CA Health Care System – Birthing While Black Part 2 appeared first on Black Voice News.

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COMMENTARY: Jim Crow 2.0 at the Pentagon

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 3, 2026

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Pete Hegseth insists that he is restoring “merit” to the United States military. But after months of dismissals, blocked promotions, and ideological purges, the evidence tells a different story. His campaign against so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” has become something far more dangerous: an assault on equal opportunity that falls with particular force on African Americans, while also targeting women, Latinos, gay Americans, and transgender service members.

The latest example is both troubling and infuriating.

Once again, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly blocked the promotion of an exceptionally qualified woman—Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt. Bauernschmidt is no ordinary officer. She became the Navy’s first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, one of the most demanding leadership assignments in the world. Her career reflects decades of exemplary performance, operational excellence, and leadership under extraordinary pressure.

Yet once again, a distinguished military career appears to have been subordinated to an ideological agenda masquerading as “merit.”

I call BS!

The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

The pattern has become impossible to ignore.

General Charles Q. Brown Jr., only the second African American to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was dismissed despite a career that placed him among the most accomplished military leaders of his generation.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman ever to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, was removed despite decades of distinguished command experience.

Reports have documented interventions that blocked or delayed the promotions of Black officers and women selected through the military’s rigorous promotion system.

Now Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt joins the growing list of highly accomplished officers whose careers have been derailed for reasons that have never been persuasively explained.

Where is Congress?

Its silence has become deafening.

Congress has an independent constitutional responsibility to oversee the armed forces. Instead, too many lawmakers have watched silently while one of the nation’s most respected institutions is subjected to ideological litmus tests and political interference.

This is not military reform. It is testosterone-fueled performative masculinity disguised as a philosophy of military excellence.

The irony is impossible to miss. Hegseth repeatedly invokes “merit,” yet his rhetoric begins with the assumption that Black officers, women, and other historically excluded Americans must somehow justify their achievements in ways that white male officers are rarely required to do.

That is not meritocracy. It is prejudice wrapped in patriotic language.

No one is asking that anyone be promoted because of race or gender. Americans simply expect that promotions be based on demonstrated competence, leadership, integrity, and service. The officers being targeted have already proven themselves repeatedly under one of the world’s most demanding evaluation systems.

Their records speak for themselves.

The attack on African American military leadership has been especially pernicious.

For generations, Black Americans fought in segregated units, earned decorations while denied equal treatment, and repeatedly demonstrated loyalty to a nation that often failed to extend them full citizenship. They broke barriers not because standards were lowered but because excellence finally overcame institutional discrimination.

Today’s campaign against “diversity” threatens to revive old assumptions under new slogans.

The implication that Black generals and admirals somehow owe their success to affirmative action rather than extraordinary performance echoes some of the ugliest stereotypes of the Jim Crow era. Yesterday’s segregationists claimed Black Americans were inherently less qualified. Today’s culture warriors simply employ more politically acceptable language while inviting the same suspicion about Black achievement.

That is why Hegseth’s campaign increasingly resembles Jim Crow 2.0.

The targets may now wear stars on their shoulders instead of military patches on segregated uniforms, but the underlying message is hauntingly familiar: Black excellence is presumed suspect, while white excellence is presumed earned.

America’s military became the finest fighting force in history because it opened its doors to talent wherever it could be found. It grew stronger after President Truman desegregated the armed forces. It became stronger when women assumed greater command responsibilities. It became stronger when every qualified American was given the opportunity to serve to the fullest extent of their abilities.

Diversity is not a concession. It is a strategic advantage.

The nation’s adversaries do not fear an American military because it is racially homogeneous. They fear it because it draws upon the talents of more than 340 million Americans whose diverse experiences, perspectives, and abilities make our armed forces unmatched anywhere in the world.

Every politically motivated dismissal of a distinguished officer sends a chilling message throughout the ranks: excellence alone may no longer be enough if you belong to the wrong demographic group.

That weakens morale. It weakens recruitment. It weakens retention.

And ultimately, it weakens national security.

Pete Hegseth has every right to pursue military readiness. He has no right to redefine merit in ways that repeatedly cast suspicion upon the accomplishments of Black officers, women, and others who have devoted their lives to defending this nation.

America deserves better. The men and women who wear the uniform deserve better. The Constitution deserves better.

And unless Congress finds the courage to exercise meaningful oversight, history may well remember this period not as a restoration of military excellence, but as the moment political ideology attempted to resurrect, in modern form, the old poison of exclusion.

Jim Crow did not strengthen America. Jim Crow 2.0 will not strengthen America’s military. It will only diminish it

Wade Henderson
Strategic Advisor
Civil and Human Rights
wade@wadejhenderson.com

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New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial

By Emilie St. John (Contributor) Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction. Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District […]
The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

By Emilie St. John
(Contributor)

Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction.

Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District Judge John Roach Jr. from overseeing the appeals process.

Two hearings have been scheduled on the motion for Aug. 9 and 10 in the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, according to Fox4 News.

On July 14, Senior Judge Sid L. Harle of the 226th District Court was assigned to preside over the defense’s motion to recuse Collin County Judge John Roach. The assignment took effect immediately and authorized Harle to handle all matters related to the recusal request, the filing read.

The Collin County District Attorney’s Office continues to defend its handling of the case by issuing a statement to NBC 5 DFW.

“The defendant’s new lawyers have filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings. The entire prosecution team and I conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s rulings and any agreements with defense counsel. We look forward to addressing these claims thoroughly in a Court of law in the coming weeks. The jury heard extensive evidence over the course of the trial and returned a unanimous verdict. We remain confident in that verdict and the fairness of the proceedings.”

Anthony’s new legal team, made up of appellate, civil rights, and criminal defense attorneys, was retained following Anthony’s conviction.

“Our responsibility is to determine whether a legal error occurred and to ensure that every issue supported by the record is fully and vigorously presented on appeal,” the team said in a statement.

“We recognize the profound loss suffered by one young man’s family and the uncertainty facing another, and we extend our respect to everyone whose lives have been forever changed by these events,” the release reads.

Anthony was charged with the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf during a track meet in Frisco, Texas, April 2, 2025. Anthony has long maintained it was an act of self-defense.

The attorneys are representing Anthony pro bono. The nearly 200-page notice of appeal seeks a new trial because his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated.

“The cumulative and practical effect of these provisions was to exclude members of the public from proceedings at every stage,” the filing reads.

The filing also focused on an alleged “handshake deal” that kept Anthony from taking the stand in his defense.

The defense filing said the agreement was that the jury would not hear that Metcalf and his twin brother had been accused of racism and bullying in the past. In exchange, they also would not see Anthony’s cellphone records or his school disciplinary record, according to court documents reported by the Dallas Morning News.

Anthony’s former defense attorney, Mike Howard, said the defense relied heavily on that deal. The team chose not to ask certain questions of witnesses or call on a separate expert witness based on that agreement. It also abandoned plans to introduce testimony and evidence about the allegations against Metcalf and his brother.

Appellate attorney Russell Wilson is now handling post-trial proceedings and Anthony’s appeal. He recently sat down for an interview, stating, “The court committed multiple errors during the June murder trial, preventing him from receiving a fair trial.”

“You know, we file motions that we expect to prevail on, but we understand that there’s two sides to every story. And at the end of the day, it’ll be a judge that has to make these decisions, but we feel confident in the positions that we’re taking,” Wilson said during an interview with WFAA. “There were substantial issues that we thought a reviewing court needed to look at. We thought these were constitutional irregularities, and we could have them addressed now. And so, we put them into a motion for a new trial.”

Bree West, a former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney, found it startling that so little time was given to Anthony’s team for such a serious “life or death” situation.

“I do think that it’s really challenging that potentially a court decided that you have 10 minutes to make that level of decision when it has the potential of being life-altering,” said West during an interview with Fox 4 News.

Judge Harle is no stranger to high-profile cases, having presided over the prosecution of a police officer charged in connection with the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Anthony was convicted on June 9 of the murder of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump!

WESTSIDE GAZETTE — The author criticizes Donald Trump’s rhetoric, noting his use of terms like “Dumbocrats” and “Communist” to describe Democrats and democracy. The column asserts that Trump’s current strategy involves creating doubt about midterm elections due to a lack of Republican agenda.
The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

Frankly Speaking

Wow! Wow! Wow! The swamp drainers have truly stepped down to new levels of stupidity. You remember Weapons of Mass Destruction? We now have Weapons of Mass Distraction. Trump has introduced Dumbocrats and Communists into the conversation about Democrats and Democracy.

Trump lies so much, and his current strategy is to set up doubt about midterm elections because he and Republicans have no agenda!

He has no “Trump “ card, but Iran has a strait! He called it a skirmish; it’s now a War. He said five days; now it’s five months. He said few casualties; now it’s 18 deaths. He knew nothing about Project 2025 but hired its architects! Trump lies about the lies and often forgets these little inventions called cameras and phones

We see and hear and then see and hear the inconsistencies.

I didn’t like 45 and dislike 47 even more!

The post LSMFT! Lord Save Me From Trump! appeared first on The Westside Gazette.

Based on reporting by Westside Gazette.

The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.