Maternal Health Community Implementation Program (MH-CIP) Fact Sheet
In the United States, people who are Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Hispanic/Latina, as well as people living in rural areas experience higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality. The Maternal Health Community Implementation Program (MH-CIP) supports communityengaged implementation research, working with affected communities to improve heart, lung, blood, and sleep health before, during, and after delivery. MH-CIP aligns with the CEAL mission by emphasizing community engagement in all aspects of research promoting health equity. MH-CIP develops and tests community-based implementation strategies to increase the adoption, uptake, and scaling up of evidence-based interventions to improve health before, during, and after pregnancy. The program supports research coalitions that are firmly connected to and embedded in affected communities.
MH-CIP Goals
- Use implementation science to bring effective maternal health interventions into communities severely impacted by maternal health disparities.
- Empower disproportionately impacted communities across the U.S. to be full partners in communityengaged implementation research to reduce disparities in maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.
- Identify and disseminate effective implementation strategies that harness community strengths and knowledge to address facilitators or barriers affecting the adoption of evidence-based practices or interventions to improve maternal health.
- Strengthen partnerships between researchers and community-based organizations to support the translation of research into usable tools and knowledge.
MH-CIP Research Coalitions
MH-CIP supports four research coalitions comprised of research organizations and community partners. Research coalitions are using Hybrid Type 2 or Type 3 Effectiveness-Implementation study designs to examine the effectiveness and implementation of evidence-based interventions. Community partners co-lead these efforts, ensuring that local knowledge, values, priorities, and strengths are fully considered and incorporated into the research.
| Coalitions | Morehouse School of Medicine | New York University Langone Health | Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine | Center for Women’s Health Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Studies | IMPACT Improving Preconception Actions and Choices for Tomorrow | RESTORE bRidging maternal lifestyle Education and counSeling with CommuniTy health wORkers and health Equity | STRIVE Strategies for Implementing a Postpartum Lifestyle Intervention in WIC Clinics: A Cluster Randomized Trial | AC3HIEVE Advancing Community and Clinical Care for Childbirthrelated Hypertension through Implementation, Engagement, and Valuing Equity |
| Interventions | Pre-pregnancy counseling based on recommendations from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology | Just Mothers, a web application used to deliver the Starting Early Program (StEP) - a supportive nutrition and lifestyle counseling program for pregnant women | Type 2 Diabetes prevention program at 36 WIC sites | Community-informed training, facilitation, and simulations to support the implementation of the Outpatient Severe Hypertension (O-HTN) Safety Bundle |
| Locations | Healthy Start and similar clinics in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina | Family Health Centers at NYU Langone and NYC Health + Hospitals | WIC clinics in Louisiana | Outpatient clinics in North Carolina |
| Academic Leads | Natalie Hernandez, PhD, MPH (Principal Investigator); Latrice Rollins, PhD, MSW; Cheryl Franklin, MD, MPH, FACOG; Amy Huebschmann, MD, MSc, FACP (Implementation Science Subject Matter Expert); Meredith Fort, PhD (Implementation Science Subject Matter Expert) | Natasha Williams, EdD, MPH, MSW (Principal Investigator) Gbenga Ogedegbe, MD, MPH, FACP (MultiPrincipal Investigator); Mary A. Sevick, ScD; Mary Messito, MD (Multi Principal Investigator); Laura Ibanez Gomez, MS; Rachel S. Gross, MD, Erinn M. Hade, PhD; Heather T. Gold, PhD; Angela Aifah, PhD; Hye, Heo, MD; Wendy Wilcox, MD, MBA, MPH | Kirsten S. Dorans, ScD (Multi-Principal Investigator); Jiang He, MD, PhD (Multi-Principal Investigator); Mary E. Schultheis, LPN (MultiPrincipal Investigator); Flor Alvarado, MD, MHS; Alessandra Bazzano, PhD, MPH; Hua He, PhD; Leanne Redman, MS, PhD; Sarah Schrauben, MD, MSCE; Lizheng Shi, PhD, MSPharm | Kathryn Menard, MD, MPH (Principal Investigator); Jennifer Leeman, DrPH, MDiv (Implementation Science Lead), Narges Farahi, MD (Clinical Integration Lead); Alex Lightfoot, EdD (Community Engagement Lead); Sarahn Wheeler, MD, MsC (Health Equity Lead) |
| Community Leads | Danette McLaurin Glass | Lydie Pierre, Juliana Staten, Damalia Jackson, Ashley Vital, Myla Flores, Yomaha Gordon, Victoria St. Clair, Tania Batres, Nathaly Rubio, Marguerite Pierce, Helena Grant | Courtney R. Martin, BS, CLC; Celia Bridgforth, PhD, RDN, LDN (community partner) | Kamara Barnett (Lead Patient Representative); Jen Medearis Costello, MS |
For more information about the MH-CIP, visit NIHCEAL.org. MH-CIP is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Office of Research on Women’s Health.
Last updated: August 15, 2024