pregnancy

Poor birth outcomes are more prevalent for Black communities, but strong evidence shows that doula care can improve those outcomes. In this study by Dr. Mosley and her team, doulas noted the alarming Black maternal mortality rate and how mistreatment causes Black clients to lose trust in medical staff, leaving them in need of advocates. Doulas also discussed the ways that race influences their connections with clients and their dissatisfaction with the lack of cultural humility or sensitivity training in standard doula training.

In this secondary data analysis of a prospective cohort during pregnancy, Dr. Michele Levine and her team examined the impact of sleep characteristics in the second trimester of pregnancy on the association between physical activity change and gestational weight gain. Based on findings from this study, weight management interventions in pregnancy should consider screening for and addressing poor sleep in the second trimester.

Read more about Dr. Levine's findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35870008/

Dr. Marian Jarlenski's recent study shows:

• There are racial/ethnic inequities in medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) use during pregnancy.
• Less is known about racial/ethnic inequities in MOUD use postpartum.
• White women had longer duration of MOUD postpartum than Hispanic or Black women.
• Inequities differed by type of MOUD.
• Reducing inequities in MOUD use is critical to improving perinatal outcomes.

Read more about their findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37058829/

Dr. Michele Levine and her team examined associations between WIC participation and disordered eating in pregnancy, covarying for depressive symptoms. Findings show that WIC participation was associated with higher scores on overall eating pathology as well as dieting and oral control subscales, but not bulimic or food preoccupation subscales, or a binge-eating item. Patterns of findings did not change when depressive symptom severity was included in models.

Dr. Traci Kazmerski and her team looked at clinician attitudes and practices on pregnancy planning and care in cystic fibrosis (CF) and found that: 

Dr. Marian Jarlenski's study looked at the duration of medication for opioid use disorder during pregnancy and postpartum by race and ethnicity in Medicaid and found that: 

- There are racial/ethnic inequities in MOUD use during pregnancy.
- Less is known about racial/ethnic inequities in MOUD use postpartum.
- White women had longer duration of MOUD postpartum than Hispanic or Black women.
- Inequities differed by type of MOUD.

Dr. Jill Demirci and her team researched Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy of pregnant and recently pregnant people, finding that among this group safety concerns persisted, with many reporting a lack of direct counseling from providers.

Learn more about their findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37009722/

Findings from Dr. Liz Krans' recent study include:

We are looking for participants who are currently pregnant or have recently been pregnant to join our research study on medical insurance and racial
health equity.
If you would like more info, please call 412-624-3029 or email: STREAMR@pitt.edu

Drug overdose is a leading cause of pregnancy-associated mortality in the US. This seminar will address the proximal and systemic contributors to reproductive and pregnancy outcomes, drawing on examples from research using health services research and implementation science methods to study persons who use substances in pregnancy.