New York Community-Hospital-Academic Maternal Health Equity Partnership (NY-CHAMP) is an NIH-funded Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence working to transform the maternal healthcare ecosystem across New York City and State. Most preventable maternal deaths occur in the intrapartum and immediate postpartum periods with disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and mortality (MM). NY-CHAMP aims to identify and address the drivers of SMM and MM across New York, while building scalable strategies to inform systems and policy change in the region. NY-CHAMP is building a collaborative infrastructure for community-centered maternal health science in New York with work across three key areas: research, training, and community engagement.
We are actively recruiting leading recruitment for one project within NY-CHAMP, LivingHealthy for Moms (LHMoms), a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of postpartum doula support in improving mental and heart health in the “fourth trimester” for moms. LHMoms is based on the Thinking Healthy Programme (THP), which has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of postpartum depression. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either a variation of standard postpartum doula care or the LHMoms intervention which integrates CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) for mental health and LE8 (Life’s Essential 8) for heart health.