This World Doula Week, we celebrate the essential work of doulas across Arkansas and beyond--those who stand beside mothers, offering emotional, physical, and informational support through one of life's most profound experiences. But as we honor this work, we must also confront a harsh reality: Survival alone is a low bar for maternal health outcomes.

In Arkansas and across the U.S., far too many women--especially Black women--face preventable complications and death during childbirth. The Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee found that 95 percent of maternal deaths in our state were preventable. And Black mothers are still dying at two times the rate of white mothers.

Our country, one of the most developed in the world, should not have mothers fearing for their lives. Survival as the baseline goal is unacceptable. We must ensure that mothers and babies are not just surviving, but thriving.

Doulas have existed since the beginning of time, offering comfort, advocacy and guidance to laboring mothers. In ancient depictions, you will often see three figures: the mother, the midwife, and the doula--quite literally having the mother's back.

Yet, for too long, doulas have been overlooked in modern maternal health care. But today, a maternal health........

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