A women’s wellness center in St. Louis is providing pregnant people in the city free doula care, mental health therapy and peer group support to help lower maternal health disparity rates.

The St. Louis Health Department offered Korede House a $500,000 ARPA grant last fall to provide emotional and mental support during pregnancy and up to one year postpartum. For two years, 50 women can participate in the Stage Program. To qualify for it, women must live in St. Louis or in one of the city’s Promise Zones.

“What I found is that we do a really good job admiring the problem. We talk about the data, there are blogs, there are complaints, there are all these things, but there is not a lot actually engaged in solving the problem,” said Ronke Faleti, founder of Korede House.

“That’s why this p

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