Oula and Stamford Health have opened a new clinic in Norwalk, Connecticut.
The practice is the result of a partnership between the maternity care provider and the health system and is Stamford’s first midwifery offering. The clinic offers care from preconception through postpartum, with babies to be delivered at Stamford Hospital, as well as gynecology services. A second clinic in Connecticut is slated to open in 2026. Oula provided by Stamford Health accepts most major payers, including Medicaid.
“A pillar of our strategy as an independent health system is to collaborate with like-minded, high-quality organizations for patient care,” Ben Wade, chief strategy officer at Stamford Health, told Fierce Healthcare. These include the Columbia University Irving Medical Center for cardiac surgery and neurosurgery, he added, as well as the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center for oncology. “Those organizations are all leaders in their respective areas, and Oula is an emerging leader in midwifery care, which made the choice an easy one.”
The nonprofit health system has seen a growing demand for midwifery care, considered to be underutilized in the U.S., and bills it as a good way to reduce the strain on OB providers. Midwives are credentialed to care for lower-risk pregnancies and to deliver babies vaginally.
Oula is in the process of publishing a survey of more than 1,000 women across a dozen diverse U.S. markets. The findings show that more than three-quarters of future moms are interested in collaborative models that combine an OB-GYN and a midwife. Six in 10 also expressed direct interest in midwife-led care. A separate 2023 Oula survey found that nearly 8 in 10 women want a model of care that uses midwives and OB-GYNs.
Through Oula provided by Stamford Health, patients will have access to telehealth and 24/7 virtual support, workshops and an exclusive digital community. At the hospital, they will be supported by a team of nurses, OB-GYNs, hospitalists, neonatologists and doctors specializing in maternal-fetal medicine, behavioral health, genetic counseling and more. The midwives and doctors at the clinic are employed by Stamford, while the other team members are employed by Oula.
Patients will benefit from Stamford Hospital’s recent multimillion-dollar renovation of its Whittingham Pavilion, home to all mother-baby services. The new space includes all private maternity rooms, a patient-led visitor policy and well-baby nursery support 24/7.
Since opening its first clinic in Brooklyn in New York in 2021, Oula has supported more than 2,500 births through four clinics. It claims to have achieved 63% lower preterm birth rates and 29% lower caesarean section rates compared to New York City maternity benchmarks, across race and payer types. Oula offers gynecology care, prenatal care, hospital delivery, postpartum care, preconception counseling and miscarriage care.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misstated which organization is working on publishing findings from a new survey of over 1,000 women. The survey was done by Oula, not Stamford.