Following KUNR Public Radio’s four-part series on maternal health care deserts in rural Nevada and the role doulas play, KUNR’s Lucia Starbuck moderated a webinar with a doctor, doula, and state lawmaker to continue the conversation about solutions to improve rural maternal health care.
The panelists included Assemblywoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong, who co-sponsored legislation to increase Medicaid reimbursement for doulas; Natalie Doyen, a doula serving Fallon and surrounding rural communities; and Dr. Catherine McCarthy, who travels from Reno to Yerington once a month to provide women’s health care. If you missed it, you can watch the video below.
According to the March of Dimes, more than half of Nevada’s 17 counties do not have a hospital that provides routine labor and delivery and is without an OB-GYN. The Long Road to Maternal Care series follows maternal health care deserts in rural Nevada, the patchwork of resources such as rural emergency medical services and traveling health care providers, and the unique support rural doulas provide.
KUNR’s Lucia Starbuck received a national fellowship, mentorship, and a community engagement grant from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism to publish the series, host the virtual event, and facilitate a roundtable in Fallon with doulas, parents, and other birth workers. Listen to the entire series here.
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