The Healthy Start Coalition of Miami-Dade plans to launch a doula program in October, expanding prenatal support for families across the county, including Palmetto Bay.

Jeannette Torres, CEO of the coalition, announced the program during a Wednesday, Sept. 9, appearance on Miami Community Newspapers' "Thriving Minds" podcast. Torres, originally from Puerto Rico, said her connection to the organization is personal: she was a Healthy Start client 23 years ago.

Speaking in Spanish on the episode, Torres said that for her, even one infant death is too many and that she does not view the issue in terms of numbers.

The statewide doula expansion uses the G.R.O.W. Doula model, according to the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions. Doula care provides non-medical support to mothers before, during and after childbirth.

The Miami-Dade coalition administers roughly $10 million a year, with more than 90 percent going to direct services for at-risk pregnant women, fathers, infants and families, according to the coalition's website. Its existing programs include home visits for high-risk pregnancies, the T.E.A.M. Dad program for fathers and the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Project. The coalition served 44,223 people in its most recently reported year.

The program matters here. Palmetto Bay is within the coalition's service area, and the doula program will join a lineup of services already reaching local families.

Specific details about the program's structure, eligibility and enrollment have not been released. Families seeking information can contact the coalition at (305) 541-0210 or [email protected]. The office, at 7205 NW 19th St., Suite 500, in Miami, is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The doula program's October launch is the coalition's next scheduled milestone.