Tag: Maternal and Child Health

This project, First Breath Families (FBF), aimed to fill the gap in access to perinatal smoking cessation services for low-income Wisconsin women, thereby improving the health of mothers, infants and families. FBF is a comprehensive cessation support system for pregnant women and household smokers and supports them from pregnancy through six months postpartum. Smoking during pregnancy is the leading preventable cause of adverse birth outcomes, and in Wisconsin, 15 percent of women report smoking during their pregnancies. Despite the risks associated with smoking, many women who quit during pregnancy face high postpartum relapse rates due to social challenges and lack of access to cessation services. FBF successfully expanded its evidence-based perinatal tobacco cessation program across Wisconsin, engaging 2,300 pregnant and postpartum individuals. The program achieved substantial progress in smoking cessation, increasing rates from 26 percent of participants in 2019 to 56 percent in 2023. Additionally, the program has trained 1,388 providers in tobacco screening and intervention, with high satisfaction and confidence reported among newly recruited providers. Finally, FBF expanded its reach through over 50 new partnerships, ensuring broad accessibility to cessation services statewide, including coverage in all Wisconsin counties.

This project, led by Dr. Ivan Rosado Mendez, aimed to develop and implement ultrasound microvessel imaging (UMI) as a functional imaging technique to study cervical remodeling during pregnancy in real time. Cervical remodeling describes the progressive changes of the cervix during pregnancy and involves four phases: softening, ripening, dilation and postpartum repair. If the cervix ripens in preparation for delivery too early, it can cause premature birth. Preterm birth (PTB), defined as delivery before 37 weeks of pregnancy, results in one million deaths worldwide and is associated with significant racial and socioeconomic disparities. The researchers successfully developed a cervical tissue-mimicking model, called a phantom, composed of agar-based simulated tissue, fluid-carrying channels, blood-mimicking fluid and a system to control fluid dynamics. They validated channel dimensions with micro-CT scans, ensured stability over 14 days and selected a fluid that best matched the features of human blood for the prototype. Finally, the team implemented a high-resolution imaging protocol that was able to detect fluid movement through the channels even when surrounded by simulated tissue.

Birth Cost Recovery (BCR) holds unmarried, non-custodial fathers liable for Medicaid birth costs in Wisconsin, yet there is little known about the impact of this policy on Black birthing people in Wisconsin. This project, led by Tiffany Green, PhD, assistant professor in the departments of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology, will work to better understand how BCR and other similar social policies impact inequities in health outcomes among low-income Black birthing people in the state of Wisconsin. Dr. Green and a team of interdisciplinary experts in the fields of economics, population health, pediatrics, social work, clinical/social psychology and community engagement will create an evaluation framework for BCR as a way of measuring the impact of this policy and collect evidence that can be useful in informing future policies and improving health outcomes statewide.

The Strong Fathers Strong Families Project, led by Fathers Making Progress, aimed to address maternal and infant health disparities among Milwaukee’s Black families by focusing on the role of fathers and father figures. Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in the United States as historical and systemic racism have perpetuated disparities in income, health and other socioeconomic measures that contribute to urgent health crises and increased violence and civil unrest. Previous work has demonstrated the positive impact of engaging fathers to improve family well-being, however a need for innovative and sustained efforts to address these challenges remained. Fathers Making Progress exceeded their goals in empowering Milwaukee’s Black communities through efforts like the Fatherhood Mobilization Project, which conducted over 350 interviews in neighborhoods like Washington Park, Metcalfe Park and Lindsay Heights to inform innovative programming. They successfully hosted 50 Men’s Wellness Groups and 30 intergenerational sessions at local high schools, enhancing social connections and stress management skills among attendees. Additionally, their healthy relationship workshops evolved into the Love Lab series, which integrated relationship counseling and social activities to provide practical relationship tools.

St. Croix Regional Medical Center received a 2022 Maternal and Child Health Grant for the project Development of an OB Nurse Navigator Program in a Rural Critical Access Hospital (St. Croix and surrounding counties). The project was successful in creating a comprehensive program to address patients’ prenatal and postpartum needs and provided social supports and resources for underserved families in this six-county rural area.

The Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center is leading the project Native Parent Connection Program; this project will strengthen collaborations to address the needs of Native parents and families, or expectant parents through home visiting, breastfeeding supports, validated mental health screening tools, and parenting programs.

Public Health Madison Dane County (PHMDC) leads the project Jardin de Espacios (Garden of Spaces): Designing Well-Being During the Perinatal Journey (Madison/Dane County); PHMDC will collaborate with Roots4Change Cooperative to develop culturally appropriate educational and perinatal services for Latino and Indigenous families.

Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin is leading the project Marathon County Start Right; this project will expand a home visiting program with a bilingual Spanish-speaking home visitor to reach and serve more bilingual families, including those residing in rural Marathon County.

Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin is leading the project Milwaukee Right Start, this project will establish home visiting services for pregnant or parenting women of color to address the significant disparities facing Black families in Milwaukee.

Next Door Foundation, in collaboration with Penfield Children’s Center, has received a grant for a project that will provide enhanced support to Black families with children under the age of one in Milwaukee. This project aims to strengthen access to post-partum maternal care and address infant needs through community-based activities, increase knowledge of the social determinants of health, inform of the risk factors associated with premature births and infant mortality, and provide information related to prevention and early intervention strategies in Milwaukee.