Equity in Maternal and Birthing Outcomes and Reproductive HeAlth through Community Engagement

NIH RePORTER · NIH · U54 · $2,154,648 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract Longstanding racial and socioeconomic inequities in the US, underpinned by historical legacies of systemic racism, oppression and exploitation, have burdened Black people and increased their risk of adverse maternal and reproductive health outcomes. Through Reproductive Justice, anti-racist scholarship and social justice praxis, researchers and clinicians are increasingly advocating for and innovating approaches that center and empower the community's lived experience. The Equity in Maternal and Birthing outcomes and Reproductive HeAlth through Community Engagement (EMBRACE) Center is a multidisciplinary community-academic partnership to advance maternal and reproductive health for Black people in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and augment training in anti-oppression praxis for care providers, researchers, and policy advocates. Leveraging existing and developing relationships, as well as our leadership expertise, the EMBRACE Center consists of three multi-level research projects: 1) implementation of a community health worker model to support postpartum recovering among Black birthing people at risk for severe maternal morbidity; 2) integration of enhanced postpartum (4th trimester) and interconception care centering Black families; and 3) evaluation of policies governing maternal and reproductive health equity among Black populations. Two components (Community and Training) will provide support and structure across the center to ensure community partnership and thought leadership in all phases of the work and training and capacity building for reproductive justice and equity. In line with the Center's vision, researchers and community collaborators (many of them Black-led organizations) will employ power-sharing approaches that value diverse forms of knowledge and dissemination processes in equitable, accessible ways. We expect the work of EMBRACE to result in sustainable approaches and interventions that will advance maternal and reproductive health equity justice and improve health and well-being for Black women, femmes, and gender expansive people.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10747792
Project number
1U54HD113030-01
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
Principal Investigator
Dara Daneen Mendez
Activity code
U54
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2024
Award amount
$2,154,648
Award type
1
Project period
2024-06-26 → 2030-05-31