Southern Center for Maternal Health - Overall ABSTRACT: Nowhere is poor maternal health in starker relief than in Louisiana and Mississippi, which consistently rank last in the country on several health indicators. Urgently needed are interventions, at multiple levels, coupled with sustained implementation of programs and policies that have been proven to promote pregnancy health. The Southern Center for Maternal Health is a partnership among the Praxis Project, Tulane University, and Ochsner Health System. It joins Praxis’ focus on optimizing maternal health through community-informed approaches to maternal health improvement; Tulane’s technical expertise in epidemiology, translational research, and health policy and economics; and Ochsner’s depth in clinical and outcomes research and community-rooted network of clinical care. The overall objective of the Center is to improve maternal health through locally informed and collaboratively designed strategies. A research center will be established, embedded within ongoing community partnerships and the existing research, training, and outreach infrastructure, to build and strengthen maternal health. The center’s overarching focus is addressing causes (quality of and access to care, health and social policy) of maternal morbidity and mortality, with a focus on women in the Gulf South. The overall research theme is assessing implementation of existing evidence-based strategies and building the evidence base for and translation of novel strategies that drive innovative models of care tailored to the community priorities and needs. The objective of the Research Projects is to assess interpersonal, health system, and policy interventions that combine to create a multilevel approach to advancing maternal health, and evaluate these strategies from cross-cutting perspectives, including cost-effectiveness and clinical care. This will be achieved through conducting three research projects: a trial in a large health care system of a multifaceted behavior change intervention to improve care (interpersonal level; RP1); adapting and evaluating an enhanced remote monitoring package in low maternity care access areas (health care provision level; RP2); and assessing the effects of Medicaid postpartum extension legislation on maternal health (policy level; RP3). The objective of the Training Core is to provide innovative and transdisciplinary training opportunities for early career scholars, aimed at developing a research workforce that can reduce maternal morbidity and mortality locally, regionally, and nationally. The objective of the Community Partners Core is to incorporate community priorities, vision, and expertise in all areas of the project, and to return results and benefits directly to impacted communities. The transdisciplinary research and training made possible by this U54, in collaboration with the other awarded centers and the data and implementation hubs, will contribute to innovative approaches that will reduce maternal deaths and severe maternal morbidity in populations with elevated maternal health risks.
