Coffective Expands Warm Referral Network, Provides Crucial Maternal Support with Help from BCBSM Foundation
Jake Newby
| 6 min read
Infant mortality is on the rise in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that the rate of U.S. infants dying in the first year of life rose 3% overall in the last data cycle. And high rates maternal morbidity and mortality persist, especially in the Black population. Coffective’s Warm Referral Network (WRN) was built to narrow that gap, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Foundation has helped along the way.
As project manager of Coffective’s WRN, Angelene Love pours her heart, skills and experience into reducing maternal health disparities in Detroit. But she doesn’t do it from behind a desk somewhere, clicking through spreadsheets and shuffling papers. Love, a doula herself, has had boots on the ground in the communities she works to improve.
“One story that immediately comes to mind … there was a very young teen mom with no support at home, we put her through the warm referral network at Detroit’s Luke Clinic,” Love recalled. “She went into early labor. She had not connected with doula yet, but she had my phone number, and she let me know that she was at the hospital and needed to be induced. I went to be with her for about eight hours. I didn’t plan for this, so I had to eventually leave out, and another doula sat with her for another eight hours. Then a third doula tapped in, and this young woman ended up giving birth to her baby with that doula there.”
That day, Love returned to the hospital to provide more support after the successful birth.
“She had support from the three of us for 36 hours,” Love said. “She was never left alone in that space, because you can only imagine how difficult it would be, being in that birthing space as such a young mom, for such a long time, all alone. We were able to also connect her with lactation support.”
In 2024, the BCBSM Foundation awarded Coffective a $20,000 Community Health Matching Grant, funds the organization used to support operations, supplies and marketing for the WRN. Increasing visibility through strategic networking helps as many young mothers in Detroit as possible become aware of the doula assistance and lactation support provided by Coffective’s WRN.
What is Coffective and the Warm Referral Network?
Coffective is a nonprofit organization that supports state and local organizations in coordinating to address systemic barriers and improve the health of birthing people and babies, with a pointed emphasis on reducing Black maternal disparities in Detroit.
The WRN connects families with community experts, because as Dr. Schreck puts it, the answer is in the community.
“There are people behind the network that connect people to people. And we believe that’s what makes this work,” she said. “Racial disparities exist in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality despite the efforts of hospitals in the last five years to develop protocols, implement quality improvement strategies and track data. Despite these efforts on the hospital side these outcomes are worsening … many of the organizations we work with are doula agencies that are not on hospital radars. They are not on the lists that are handed out to patients. But they are highly effective in addressing issues that contribute to morbidity and mortality.”
Coffective’s WRN isn’t just about making resources available with a list; it’s about making resources accessible. Wraparound services provided within the WRN include:
- Dedication to community outreach to expand its network, including providing monthly capacity forms to make sure community members can share their availability and what kind of services they offer, as well as which Medicaid plans they are credentialed with so the WRN can decrease the challenge of finding a doula in their geographic area who is taking new clients.
- Active involvement in multiple prenatal clinics within two different hospitals in Detroit, with a goal to educate families as to what a doula is and what lactation support looks like.
- Allowing families interested in doula services to interview multiple doulas and honor families’ right to choice.
- Support from an accountability agent who follows up with families multiple times during the postnatal process. For example, these agents may help a mother transition from a birth doula to a postpartum doula.
How the WRN’s doula and lactation support services have benefitted Detroit families
Though doula support is an enormous part of the WRN’s operations, it’s not all the Network does to support young moms.
“It’s very difficult after you’ve had a baby to get back out to seek support for lactation, but (we partner with organizations) who can come in home, especially in those first few days when everything is chaotic, who can provide additional support during such a crucial time during the breastfeeding journey,” Love said.
Increasing breastfeeding rates and duration leads to better health outcomes for both infants and mothers, so that’s another huge point of emphasis for Coffective, which is proud to tout a total of 574 referrals to the WRN since launching in 2021. Within the cohort that have engaged in the WRN, the organization has a zero infant mortality rate.
“We have a zero infant mortality rate in a city where the infant mortality rate is 15 per 1,000 births, there would have been an expected mortality rate in a cohort of that size,” Dr. Schreck said. “We really feel like we’re working at the root of the problem.”
“Reducing the risk of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in Michigan is something the BCBSM Foundation has always and will always prioritize,” said Audrey Harvey, executive director and chief executive officer of BCBSM Foundation. “The incredible results Coffective’s Warm Referral Network has netted indicates their system is working. We’re proud to help it grow and thrive.”
When Love recounts the day that she and two other doulas helped guide a young mom through the birth of her firstborn, she identifies that moment and the days that followed as a perfect encapsulation of the power of Coffective’s WRN.
“When she went home, we were able to provide continued lactation support to ensure that she and her baby met their breastfeeding goals,” Love said. “We’ve been able to check in on her, watch her son grow and just be there as another support system. We all are in a group chat with her and help if her baby has a fever, things like that. Any time she needs something. It’s really beautiful, because one of us is always able to answer questions.”
Go to the BCBSM Foundation website to learn more about the Community Health Matching Grant program, including eligibility, proposal requirements and more.
Read more Foundation stories:
- Affirmations, AYA Youth Collective Receive BCBSM Foundation Funds to Provide Wraparound Services to At-Risk Youth, Members of the LGBTQ+ Community
- BCBSM Foundation Helps Lighthouse Hire Full-Time Counselor to Address ‘Hidden Population’ of Oakland County Runaway Youth, Youth Experiencing Homelessness
- ‘I Like to be the Person That I Needed:’ YWCA Kalamazoo’s Community Health Worker Helps Reduce Black Maternal Health Disparities Through Resource Hub Project
Photo credit: Angelene Love/Coffective
