Neonatal-Perinatal Health Equity Research

The BMC Program for neonatal-perinatal health equity investigates drivers of racial, ethnic and linguistic disparities in evidence-based care practices including safe sleep, breastfeeding, and family-centered care in the preterm infant population. Current projects include national, state and local studies. National projects include a hybrid effectiveness-implementation study examining social determinants of health screening and referral in the NICU setting, and a randomized controlled trial of to examine the effect of cash transfers during the NICU hospitalization on maternal and infant health outcomes. State and local projects focus on investigating equity-focused implementation strategies to integrate social care innovations into a safety-net NICU context including evaluation of a breastfeeding peer counseling/social needs navigation program; and investigating modifiable determinants of infant care practices among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic mothers with limited English proficiency to inform intervention development.