# Patient Centered Community and Clinical Approaches to Reduce Racial Disparities at Birth by Preventing Anemia

> **NIH NIH U54** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $512,268

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract: Project 1
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) affects up to one-third of people during pregnancy, with Black and Hispanic/Latina
people experiencing the highest rates. IDA is a condition of too little iron in the body, resulting in too few
healthy red blood cells, which puts pregnant people at risk for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH; excessive
bleeding after childbirth) and related severe maternal morbidity (SMM). IDA is preventable, but current
approaches to prevention and treatment are not working. The incidence of IDA during pregnancy is increasing,
the disparities are worsening, and patient perspectives are lacking. Rates of IDA at birth admission, the time of
greatest maternal risk, are up to 3-4x higher among Black pregnant people compared to White pregnant
people and 1.5-2x higher among Latinx pregnant people. The goal of this project is to increase hemoglobin
(i.e., resolve anemia) at birth admission for all pregnant people, thereby reducing the racial/ethnic disparities in
IDA and reducing anemia-related SMM from PPH. The objective of this project is to create a novel Anemia
Prevention Toolkit (i.e., a set of patient- and community-centered guidelines and implementation strategies)
and then implement and disseminate it at scale using collaborative quality improvement methods. The
rationale underlying this work is that both clinicians, represented by the Clinical Collaborative Leadership
Group, and community partners and people with lived experience of IDA, represented by the Anemia
Community Leadership Group, desire the education and guidance of such a toolkit and are dedicated to
working together to create, optimize, and implement it. We will achieve our goal by pursuing the following three
Specific Aims: 1) develop an Anemia Prevention Toolkit that aligns evidence-based practice with patient-
centered care, incorporating patients’ lived experience, community assets, and clinical/hospital workflows; 2)
optimize the Toolkit to increase hemoglobin at birth admission by piloting it at 8 hospitals, and examine its
acceptability and practicality; and 3) implement and disseminate the modified Toolkit across a network of more
than 300 hospitals in CA, OR, and WA to reduce anemia and SMM from PPH. To pursue these aims, we will
utilize a rigorous implementation science framework that combines patient-centered community perspectives
with structured, evidence-based clinical care and education for anemia in pregnancy. Guided by the Pathways
to Racial and Ethnic Disparities in SMM and Mortality Model, the project’s outcomes will prioritize patient and
community experiences and input. Clinical and health system stakeholders and frontline staff will work together
in alignment with the Public Health Critical Race Praxis, employing an iterative methodology to ensure
attentiveness to equity throughout the project. This innovative approach holds the research team accountable
to the patients and communities impacted by the significant proble...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10908642
- **Project number:** 5U54HD113142-02
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Deirdre Lyell
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $512,268
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-17 → 2030-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10908642

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10908642, Patient Centered Community and Clinical Approaches to Reduce Racial Disparities at Birth by Preventing Anemia (5U54HD113142-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10908642. Licensed CC0.

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