What’s happening: A new update on doula regulations from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) removes the need for physician approval to allow doulas to be present during deliveries in hospitals.
What else to know: DHCS Medical Director, Karen Mark, MD, has authorized doula services for any Medi-Cal member who is pregnant or was pregnant within the past year and wishes to receive services from a doula while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy.
Other revisions include the following:
- Evidence supporting doula services: DHCS has added information to the website regarding evidence-based research that supports the benefits of doula services for birth and maternal outcomes.
- Added the number of doula provider applications and enrolled individual providers: The doula webpage now includes the number of approved doula provider applications and the number of enrolled individual providers. The data will be updated monthly.
- Doula Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents: DHCS has updated the FAQs and created separate FAQs for doula providers and for Medi-Cal members. The FAQs can be found under the Resources section on the DHCS doula services web page.
- Doula Services Recommendation Form: DHCS has translated the Doula Recommendation form into 19 languages. The translated recommendation forms can be found under the Language Access section on the DHCS doula services web page.
