The NY-CHAMP Center of Excellence

The center will implement and evaluate a novel doula-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy program designed to address cardiovascular health, mental health, and key social determinants of health during the postpartum period. NY-CHAMP will also identify the mitigating effects of policy interventions for reducing maternal health disparities.

Project 1 begins with focus groups conducted in preparation for Living Healthy for Moms (LHMoms). LHMoms is a RCT of doula intervention postpartum (n=450 total) at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, Allen Hospital, and NYC H+H/Queens. A purposive sample of doulas, hospital administrators, providers, and staff (n=10 at each hospital; N=30 total) will be enrolled to participate in three rounds of focus group discussions and brief web-based implementation processes at Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, Allen Hospital, and NYC H+H/Queens.

Project 2 is Policy Solutions for Addressing Structural Racism in Maternal Health Disparities which examines state healthcare workforce diversity and state Medicaid eligibility generosity using publicly available data. Additionally, Patient IDIs and stakeholder FGD: 15-20 patients from Brooklyn Methodist, Allen Hospital, NYC H+H/Queens (total n=60) in coordination with Project 1 is hosting three FGDs with hospital stakeholders and three FGDs with community stakeholders at all three hospitals (n=2 per site, 10 participants each, total n=60).

The center will establish a Career Development and Training Core (CDTC) to transform the maternal health research culture and create a pipeline of early-stage investigators expertly trained in community partnerships, anti-racism, justice, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

NY-CHAMP Scholars will be engaged in hands-on training in intervention science that is community-led, anti-racist, and interdisciplinary via a novel, collaborative, to-be-designed demonstration project in partnership with The Bridge Directory and Morris Heights Health Center’s Women’s Health Pavilion.

The center will create a Community Engagement and Policy Action Core (CEPA) to serve as a platform for iterative community input, co-design processes, research dissemination, capacity building and policy action.

A co-design process locally led by Black Women’s Blueprint, Nurse Family Partnership program, and Perinatal and Infant Community Health program will be conducted in parallel urban and rural sites with two safety-net hospitals of the NYC H+H and in 2 hospitals in upstate New York in partnership with the University of Rochester and NYS DoH. Simultaneously, Poppy Seed Health will collect baseline survey data and weekly checks with a prospective sample to evaluate maternal mental health outcomes during pregnancy and 12 months postpartum. This is a capacity building pilot grant for program evaluation of Poppy Seed’s virtual doula platform.

Additionally, a Community-Hospital-Academic Research Governance (CHARGE) Board will operate through the Community Engagement & Policy Action Core, and with oversight from the four community partner MPIs, will serve as a leadership advisory body and accountability mechanism for the center, providing a sustained platform for iterative input and engagement across the life of the center and all dimensions. The CHARGE Board will include a diverse group of 18 multi-sector stakeholders from the following organizations:

• NYC Health + Hospitals
• NYS Department of Health
• NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
• ACOG District II: Safe Motherhood Initiative
• NYS: University of Rochester Medical Center
• NYS: Nurse-Family Partnership
• NYS: Perinatal and Infant Community Health
• Mt. Sinai Health System
• Northwell Health
• Dominican Women's Development Center
• Poppy Seed Health
• Mexican Coalition for the Empowerment of Youth and Families, Inc.
• Christiana Care Health System