Research Project

Black midwives for Black women: Maternity care to improve trust and attenuate structural racism

Our goal is to examine whether Melanated Group Midwifery Care (MGMC), a culturally-adapted, patient-centered maternity care model, attenuates the impact of structural racism on Black pregnant and postpartum women by assessing whether increased health system trust leads to enhanced patient engagement. MGMC packages four evidence-based interventions that specifically address care gaps that disproportionately impact Black women. MGMC maintains patient-provider racial concordance in a group prenatal setting with an extensive nurse case management system that actively coordinates medical referrals and wrap-around services, including in-home postpartum support. We compare MGMC to individualized prenatal and postpartum care. We hypothesize Black women assigned to MGMC will have higher health system trust that will lead to more engagement and positively affect a range of outcomes through 12 months postpartum compared to Black women receiving individualized care.

Principal Investigator
Liese, Kylea Laina
Start Date
2021-11-01
End Date
2027-10-31
Funding Source
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Abstract

Our goal is to examine whether Melanated Group Midwifery Care (MGMC), a culturally-adapted, patient-centered maternity care model, attenuates the impact of structural racism on Black pregnant and postpartum women by assessing whether increased health system trust leads to enhanced patient engagement. MGMC packages four evidence-based interventions that specifically address care gaps that disproportionately impact Black women. MGMC maintains patient-provider racial concordance in a group prenatal setting with an extensive nurse case management system that actively coordinates medical referrals and wrap-around services, including in-home postpartum support. We compare MGMC to individualized prenatal and postpartum care. We hypothesize Black women assigned to MGMC will have higher health system trust that will lead to more engagement and positively affect a range of outcomes through 12 months postpartum compared to Black women receiving individualized care.