NYU Langone Health’s institute receives US$12.5m in funding to address maternal mortality crisis

NYU Langone Health’s Institute for Excellence in Health Equity has received US$12.5m for new digital intervention to address the “growing” maternal mortality crisis. 

The maternal mortality rate in the US, which has doubled in the past 20 years, is higher than in any other industrialised nation.

At least half of these deaths are preventable, and many are driven by systemic racism and social determinants of health such as poor access to quality and culturally appropriate care; gaps in insurance coverage before pregnancy; food insecurity, housing, and others, researchers say.

In 2021, Black pregnant women died at a rate 2.6 times higher than their white counterparts. Although Hispanic women experience relatively lower maternal mortality, this rate has jumped sharply in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.

To reverse this alarming trend, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), created in 2021 the Maternal Health Community Implementation Project (MHCIP).

MHCIP aims to engage communities to implement interventions targeted at poor maternal outcomes such as hypertension, obesity and gestational diabetes in minoritised populations.

As part of the four coalitions supported by MHCIP, the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity was awarded US$12.5m over five years with Natasha Williams, associate professor in the department of population health, as principal investigator.

The programme will adapt and implement the Starting Early Program (StEP), an individual and group-based supportive nutrition and lifestyle counselling programme for pregnant women.

According to the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity, Williams will lead adaptation of StEP to meet the needs of diverse patient populations and to facilitate implementation in low-income practices that serve minoritised populations.

The newly adapted programme, called JustMothers, will be delivered digitally by community health workers using culturally relevant text messaging and video links. Community health workers are lay members of a community, who have similar ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, and/or life experiences with the people they serve.

Williams said: “We are excited and honoured to offer this first-of-its kind digital intervention to Black and Hispanic pregnant women in New York City, where there is a high burden of maternal health inequities.

“This research programme enables us to move beyond descriptive accounts of health inequities, by implementing practical, and sustainable solutions to address the crisis of maternal morbidity.

“We are deeply appreciative to our community partners and people with lived experience who will play a critical role in not just our ability to engage with pregnant persons, but also in building lasting community engagement networks to achieve health equity.

“This grant will contribute to NYU Langone’s efforts to promote maternal health equity and health justice.”

The research team will evaluate adoption and dissemination of JustMothers across NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health system in the country, and the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone in Sunset Park and Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York.

Isaac Dapkins, chief medical officer of the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone, said: “The Family Health Centers at NYU Langone has a longstanding commitment to providing comprehensive women’s health services in Brooklyn.

“This proposal builds on that commitment to offer enhanced services to the pregnant people receiving care in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.”

Wendy Wilcox, chief women’s health officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, said: “Addressing social determinants of health, such as food insecurity and unstable housing, is an essential part of addressing social justice and advancing the health equity of our pregnant and postpartum patients.

“Nutrition is medicine, as it can help manage or even reverse chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. We are proud to serve all New Yorkers, and we look forward to partnering with NYU Langone Health on this important study.”

This first year of the award is dedicated to building the infrastructure to support the research. The investigators are planning to enrol 900 pregnant women, with the enrolment set to start by December.