The report recommended six actions for employers:

Provide expectant families with financial reimbursement to cover doula support. Ensure that members have access to a network of community-based providers who can support them in person if desired, and that members can select doulas based on racial, ethnic, religious, gender or sexual identity, as well as lived experience.
Review plan language and limitations surrounding out-of-hospital birth (at-home birth and birth centers). Consider an out-of-network benefit to provide some level of assistance where health plan networks may be insufficient.
Review network access and discuss network inclusion requirements with the health plan administrator for freestanding birth centers and midwives, using state regulations and evidence-based recommendations from leading regulatory bodies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and American College of Nurse-Midwives as a guide.
Hold carrier partners and vendors accountable for provider matching capabilities, ensuring that members can search for and select providers who self-identify with a particular race or ethnicity, sexual and/or gender orientation, lived experience or training/expertise.
Collect race and ethnicity data from members, send it on eligibility files to vendors and hold vendors accountable for health outcomes stratified by race and ethnicity.
Review the health plan's maternity coverage. Ensure that members have virtual and in-person access to both traditional and alternative providers, such as midwives and pelvic floor physical therapists.

Instant Insights /

Employers can take steps to help reduce high maternal mortality rate in U.S.

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