A $40,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Health will fund Virginia Union University’s second cohort of its Doula Certification Program, making VUU the first historically Black college or university in Virginia to offer follow-up doula training.

The university announced Tuesday that it will continue its partnership with Birth In Color and the Virginia Department of Health for the six-month program to address disparities in maternal health outcomes.

“It is quite frankly a crisis and one that we do want to address as a social justice ini-tiative here at Virginia Union University,” said Felicia Cosby, dean of the VUU Technical College.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women die during childbirth at three times the rate of white women nationwide, and twice the rate of their white counterparts in Virginia. In addition, infants born to Black women are three times more likely to die than babies of other races in Virginia.

“These students will uniquely be positioned to make a real difference in addressing the alarming black maternal mortality rate,” Kenda Sutton-El, founder and executive director of Birth In Color.

The first cohort of 10 students and alumni launched in October 2024, with the second cohort set to begin March 25.

VUU also is expanding its Health Equity Initiatives by offering Allied Health certifications, starting with phlebotomy and CPR in April.