Our Impact

Open Arms is the leading independent, community-based program in Washington State providing comprehensive perinatal services to families with low incomes. We serve over 600 families every year, providing them with culturally responsive resources throughout pregnancy, lactation, and early parenting. 

Our Clients Have Some of the Best Maternal and Infant Health Outcomes in the Country.

Open Arms supports, educates, and empowers pregnant people and their families during pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. Since 1997, we have served over 5,200 families with community-based support, completely free of charge.

The United States has extremely poor maternal and infant health outcomes compared to other Global North nations, especially for Black, Indigenous, Latine, and other birthing people of color. Research has shown that doulas improve birth outcomes and one-on-one continuous doula support for low-risk patients in spontaneous labor is endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

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We Get Results
  • Open Arms’ unplanned C-section rates are lower than both King County and Washington State’s, 14.7 percent versus 26.5 percent and 28.5 percent respectively. 
  • 92.7 percent of Open Arms’ clients are bodyfeeding at six months, compared to King County at 39.3 percent and Washington State at 50.7 percent. 
  • Enrolled families have lower rates of child developmental concerns, with nearly all showing improvement on follow-up screening assessments 
  • Since the launch of our Family Support Services program, we have connected 179 families with resources to meet the growing need for mental health support, housing, transportation, domestic violence, and legal aid.  
  • Since 2020, we have provided 200 individual lactation support virtual visits as well as reached 22,000 individuals through online education events.
  • A third-party evaluation of our program outcomes found 15 percent higher program retention rates than state and national Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) funded programs.
Why It Matters
Supporting Research