Stamford Health, a nonprofit, independent health system in Connecticut, and midwife provider Oula have teamed up on midwifery services in the state.
The partners plan to open at least two new clinics, which will operate as Oula provided by Stamford Health. This marks the health system's first-ever midwifery offering and is Oula’s entry into the Connecticut market. The first clinic is slated to open within the calendar year in Norwalk, with the second clinic to follow within a year.
“Our goal is always to provide a high quality experience to our patients and to providers who practice here,” Ben Wade, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Stamford Health, told Fierce Healthcare. “And we knew that there was a gap, in that we weren’t providing midwifery services.”
The clinics will offer full-service gynecology and pregnancy care, from preconception to postpartum. They will also include care navigators, virtual support and expert resources, all covered by most major health plans. Patients, typically those with lower-risk pregnancies, will see a team of midwives and OB-GYNs in the new clinics and then deliver their babies at Stamford Hospital. Those in need of higher-acuity care can be referred to community or Stamford Health providers.
The offering comes at a time when some have indicated a strong preference for midwifery-led care, and research suggests these women are willing to shop around for the service. Stamford Health knew it had to introduce the offering or lose some patients, Wade said.
Beyond serving community preferences, Stamford Health wants to elevate the overall quality of care in its community. Research has found states that integrate midwives into their healthcare delivery systems see better maternal outcomes, he noted.
While Oula offers its own providers, all clinical services at the new Connecticut clinics will be delivered by Stamford Health-employed midwives and doctors. Oula will be lending administrative and consulting support, executives said. The partners will work together to design clinical protocols determining patient eligibility, coordinating handoffs between the new clinics and the hospital and more.
“It is incredibly challenging to stand up a midwifery care service line, integrate it into existing hospital operations and culture, and reach the full potential it offers to grow market share in a consumer-driven service line,” Adrianne Nickerson, Oula co-founder and CEO, told Fierce Healthcare in an emailed comment. “We enable hospitals to do it faster, reach more patients, and deliver best-in-class outcomes.”
Stamford Health is currently recruiting for an OB-GYN, with experience working with midwives, to oversee the new clinics.
Since opening in 2021, Oula has delivered more than 2,200 babies in New York City. Oula contends that it outperforms NYC benchmarks on patient experience and outcomes like lower preterm birth and caesarean section rates. The hybrid provider has also partnered with Mount Sinai West to streamline deliveries for its patients.
Stamford Health has long been interested in partnerships with other providers, such as with Columbia University Irving or the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. “We’re especially interested in partnerships that can support the expansion of clinical programs, and love working with early stage companies with proven models,” Wade said.
“Women often feel like they have to pick between a midwife/home birth and an OB-GYN/hospital birth, but what they really want is the best of both,” Nickerson echoed. “Our deep partnerships with health systems allow us to offer women the integrated approach they are looking for and allow health systems to offer an entirely differentiated service to their communities.”