Pear Suite Strengthens Maternal and Child Health by Empowering Birthworkers with Innovative Technology

February 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM EST

Announces Contract with O Community Doulas to be Technology Partner for First-of-its-Kind Doula Help Desk

Pear Suite, a digital health company empowering community-based workers to address the social determinants of health (SDOH), is expanding its efforts to support maternal and child health through doulas and other birthworkers. By equipping birthworkers with its intuitive care navigation and billing platform, Pear Suite is enhancing their ability to provide personalized, culturally competent support to expectant and new mothers, particularly in underserved communities.

Doulas, one type of birthworker, play a critical role in maternal healthcare, offering emotional, physical, and informational support before, during, and after childbirth. However, many doulas face barriers in coordinating care, tracking patient needs, connecting families with essential community resources, and billing for their services. Pear Suite’s platform is designed to bridge these gaps, allowing doulas to streamline communication, document health and social needs, and access real-time data insights to improve outcomes.

“Our mission is to lift up frontline public health workers—including birthworkers—by giving them the digital tools and support they need to better serve families and secure fair reimbursement,” said Pear Suite co-founder and CEO Colby Takeda. “By enhancing their ability to provide individualized care, we can help reduce maternal health disparities and improve long-term outcomes for both mothers and babies.”

From screening to care coordination, health education to resource linking, the Pear Suite platform ensures that birthworkers can efficiently provide high quality care and get fairly compensated for their work. This initiative aligns with broader national efforts to reduce maternal mortality rates, especially among Black, Indigenous, and other communities disproportionately impacted by maternal health disparities.

Pear Suite has already partnered with several maternal health organizations across seven states to provide birthworkers with access to its platform, with early adopters reporting improved work efficiency and stronger connections between birthworkers, families, and healthcare providers.

One such organization is Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association (BMBFA) in Detroit, Michigan. In addition to training and deploying community-based doulas, breastfeeding peer counselors, and childbirth educators, BMBFA hosts regular professional development events and develops resources to build industry capacity, including the recently published The Michigan Community-Based Doula Safety Net Funding Brief, The Michigan Doula Best Practice Guide, and The Michigan Doula Medicaid Provider Toolkit.

“Doulas play a vital role in caring for families and deserve resources that support their continued success. We’ve recently published essential materials to expand Michigan's doula workforce, enhance access to care, and explore liberatory funding models,” said Kiddada Green, BMBFA Founding Executive Director. “Similarly, we’re leveraging tools like Pear Suite to streamline administrative tasks, freeing BMBFA's doulas to focus on what truly matters, nurturing families.”

Another organization is O Community Doulas, which has launched the Doula Help Desk, a first-of-its-kind resource hub designed to empower doulas with essential tools, technical assistance, and funding guidance to better serve families across the state. This effort is being powered by Pear Suite’s care navigation and billing platform, which streamlines documentation, reporting, and reimbursement processes, allowing doulas to focus on what they do best—providing holistic, community-based care. Over 122 doulas are already engaged with the Doula Help Desk, with a goal of reaching 1,000 birthing families this year.

“This initiative comes at a crucial time, as California’s expansion of doula services through Medi-Cal has opened new doors while also presenting significant operational challenges—particularly for smaller doula organizations and doulas of color,” said Ithiopia Mckinney, founder at COMMUNi-T.org and Executive Director at O Community Doulas. “We are committed to ensuring that doulas have the infrastructure they need to thrive. By coupling Pear Suite's technology with the Doula Help Desk, we’re providing essential support in billing, contracting, training, marketing, and mentorship—helping to level the playing field and build a more sustainable workforce.”

In addition to the Doula Help Desk, COMMUNi T is launching three Birth Equity and Infant Health Mobile Clinics to bring accessible healthcare services directly to underserved and rural communities in the Sacramento/Bay Area, Northern Rural Counties, and Central Valley Counties. These vans will deploy doulas, community health workers, and medical professionals, who will use the Pear Suite platform in the field to provide culturally competent, patient-centered care in rural and immigrant communities—breaking down barriers to maternal health access.

On March 4th, COMMUNi T will hold a launch event at 10485 Folsom Blvd Ste B Rancho Cordova CA 95670 at 11 AM, featuring key speakers including California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos.

About Pear Suite

Pear Suite is a digital health company that empowers community workers to address the social determinants of health (SDOH). Through Pear Suite’s AI-powered social care navigation platform, health plans, providers, and community-based organizations can boost member engagement, improve health outcomes, and reduce the cost of care in a person-centered, culturally, and linguistically centered way. Pear Suite has supported hundreds of organizations and impacted more than 100,000 lives by driving improvements that are often overlooked in the healthcare landscape. For more information, please visit or follow us on LinkedIn and X.