Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation Announces $360,000 in Grants for Perinatal Health

BOSTON — The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation announced $360,000 in new grant funding to support 12 organizations working to improve perinatal health across the Commonwealth, including supporting access to doula care for pregnant people in communities of color.

The only grant to an organization based in Western Mass. will go to Berkshire Nursing Families in support of the next phase of its partnership with Springfield Family Doulas to train and mentor Black doulas and lactation counselors in Berkshire County.

The Perinatal Health Initiative grant program is part of the foundation’s broader strategy of grantmaking and policy analysis aimed at better understanding and disrupting structural racism and eliminating racial inequities in health.

The foundation’s grantmaking team met with more than 30 community organizations and leaders working in perinatal health to inform the design of the Perinatal Health Initiative. Several grant partners are focused on the doula workforce, which is comprised of trained, non-medical professionals who support people during and after pregnancy. MassHealth recently began covering their services to improve maternal health and reduce health disparities affecting communities of color.

“This new grant program will expand the capacity of community organizations leading local perinatal health efforts to improve health outcomes,” said Audrey Shelto, president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. “Over the next year, these projects will provide education and supports, further develop doula and other perinatal services in key communities, and advance statewide policy and advocacy that will make perinatal health more equitable.”