Wellstar uses federal grant to expand maternal care in rural Georgia
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Wellstar Health System is using a federal grant to help improve health outcomes for pregnant women and new mothers in nine rural counties across Georgia.
Why it matters: Georgia continues to have worse-than-average infant and maternal health outcomes. According to a 2025 March of Dimes report, the state's infant mortality rate was 7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023, higher than the national average of 5.6.
- The preterm birth rate (11.8) is also higher than the national average (10.4).
The latest: Wellstar received a $1.2 million federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant to expand obstetrician and gynecological care, add midwife and nurse practitioner services at a satellite clinic and hire three doulas.
- The program will operate in Jefferson, Burke, Emmanuel, Washington, Glascock, Warren, McDuffie, Jenkins and Johnson counties.
- Program director Keisha Mays told Axios the initiative's mission "is to create that holistic ecosystem where we can support moms with pregnancy and postnatal care."
Zoom in: The program brings childbirth education, parenting classes, breastfeeding support and education and doula services to counties where families can not access to OB/GYN care in less than 30 minutes.
- Wellstar operates a satellite office in Jefferson County, and grant funding could be used for offering an extra day where the midwife and nurse practitioner are available for clients, Mays said.
- Doulas are paired with families throughout pregnancies and continue helping them through the first postpartum year.
- They help educate families about what to expect for labor and childbirth and on the warning signs that mothers may need urgent care.
- Doulas can also escalate concerns shared by their patients to midwives or even doctors and are available for after-hours appointments.
What they're saying: Tiffany Bryant, Wellstar's executive director of women's health education, told Axios families are paired with doulas based on a pregnant woman's needs or previous experiences, and they become in tune with their patient's emotional and physical needs.
- "She's in that delivery room with this mom," Bryant said of the patient's doula. "She's singularly focused on improving her birthing experience."
Zoom out: A 2023 Maternity Care Deserts report notes 34.6% of counties in Georgia were classified as "maternity care deserts," most of which were located in southwest, central and eastern Georgia.
The bottom line: Mays told Axios Wellstar's program is about providing equitable access to maternal health care in communities where families have to travel long distances just to see a doctor.
- "We're tired of having and seeing so many preventable deaths with our mothers in our communities," Mays said.