Southern Center for Maternal Health Equity
The center aims to address maternal morbidity and mortality, particularly among Black women in the Gulf South, by testing community-prioritized strategies, strengthening research capacity in Louisiana and Mississippi, and establishing a maternal health research center within community partnerships. This project is based on the Pathways to Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Conceptual Model. The Center for Maternal Health Equity is based in the southern U.S. to address the maternal health crisis here and nationwide.
Research Core
The Research Center will address the scientific needs of the region and the nation by providing technical expertise and skills needed to test, implement, and transform community priorities and insights into actionable and effective strategies for improving maternal health.
Learn more about our research core.
RP 1: Respectful Maternity Care
RP1 will test an interactive, multi-level respectful maternity care intervention to reduce provider biases and improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes.
RP 2: Access to Maternity Care
RP2 will test an interactive, multi-level RP2 aims to build on the Connected MOM program to more effectively address barriers to care and reduce racial and geographic inequities in maternal health.
RP 3: Postpartum Medicaid
RP3 targets the policy level by examining the overall effectiveness of Louisiana’s Medicaid postpartum extension and PPD screening mandates.
Training and Community Cores
Community
The Center’s CP Core will establish equitable partnerships between Black-led community-based organizations (CBO’s), researchers, and healthcare providers to elevate and incorporate Black voices, ensuring that these partners are integrated into the research and healthcare cores of the Center.
Training
The Training Core aims to enhance diversity in health research trainees and enhance maternal health research capacity through innovative educational programs. It will create a diverse group of early career researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, focusing on innovative solutions to address maternal morbidity and mortality.
Meet Our Investigators
The center leads are Drs. Emily Harville, Suan Perez, and Joseph Biggio, but there are numerous PIs, researchers, training and administrative staff, and community partners.
Meet the whole team, and scroll down to learn more about our community partners.
Our Partners
The Southern Center for Maternal Health Equity is a group effort, and we have many community partners who share a vested interest in maternal and child health, equity, preventive care, and access to maternal and family healthcare throughout the life cycle.
We work with universities, non-profits, institutes, and community groups. Below are a few of our partners. Visit the community partners page to see all our partners.
Other Tulane Maternal Health Centers
Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health
Funded by the HRSA Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Bureau, the Tulane CEMCH seeks to improve the health of women, infants, children, youth, and their families through the development of the MCH workforce.
Learn more >>
Tulane University MatCH Program
The Tulane University MatCH Program extends the training and support of the Tulane Center of Excellence Maternal and Child Health (CEMCH) and is a joint program between CEMCH and the Mary Amelia Women’s Center. Learn more >>
Mary Amelia Center for Women’s Health Equity Research (MAC)
At the Mary Amelia Center for Women’s Health Equity Research (MAC), we believe that opportunities for health begin where people are born, grow, learn, work, and play and are shaped by the policies and systems that form the foundation of our society.
Learn more >>
The PrePARED Consortium
Interest in investigating periconceptional exposures as determinants of long-term health outcomes for mothers and their children. Targeting the preconception time period is a potentially effective strategy to reduce health disparities .
Learn more >>
Seminars and Events
The center will be adding upcoming events and seminars soon. Thanks for your interest!
This grant U54HD113159 is supported by the Improve Initiative. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
CONTACT
scmhe@tulane.edu
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