LaToshia Rouse

North Carolina

LaToshia Rouse is a birth and postpartum doula and owner of Birth Sisters Doula Services. Her journey as an advisor began 7 years ago, after having triplets at 26 weeks gestation via an emergency vaginal delivery. Early on LaToshia’s work was focused on bringing the parent perspective to the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and antepartum improvement committees at WakeMed Health and Hospitals, including serving as a member of the NICU’s Vermont Oxford Network (VON) team. Her passion is helping parents develop their voice in the care of their children and helping medical staff learn from and make improvements in care based on the parent perspective. LaToshia has served as a subject matter expert and expert team member for the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC), American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), National Quality Forum (NQF) and North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) several other organizations. 

She has done intensive training with the Institute of Patient and Family Centered Care (IPFCC) and has partnered on several projects with the team. LaToshia is a sought after speaker and was also an invited speaker for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and March of Dimes sponsored launch of the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC), the North Carolina Perinatal Association, the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) Annual Conference, Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center (MHLIC) as well as several state PQC conferences around the country. She is also currently working on policy with the North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s (NCIOM) Maternal Health Taskforce and worked on policy as co chair of the NCIOM’s Taskforce on the Perinatal System of Care in 2019. Her measurement work started in 2020 focusing on maternal health. In reflecting on the work she’s engaged in over the last number of years, LaToshia passion is finding ways for clinicians and patients to have a true partnership and improve outcomes.