Maternal & Child Health
Our Center for Health Services & Outcomes Research (CHSOR) investigators have been working to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in peripartum care and to improve the quality and safety for pregnant patients and their babies in the United States. CHSOR is one of the homes of the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ILPQC), which uses data-driven, evidence-based practices to improve the quality of perinatal health.
ILPQC
As a result of our work with ILPQC, there has been a reduction of disparities in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, improved outcomes for all mothers and birthing persons, and a decrease in costs. The collaborative builds on the existing state-mandated regionalized perinatal system and operates with long-term sustainable funding.
Active Projects
Cardiovascular Health Trajectories from Birth Through Adolescence in a Diverse Cohort of Children
This generation of children is one of the first in centuries to have a shorter projected lifespan than their parents. One of the driving reasons behind this decline in health is due to the growing prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors particularly obesity among youth. The overarching goal of this proposal is to identify cardiovascular health trajectories from birth through age 20 among a diverse cohort of 7,000 children and their families who have already have clinical phenotyping to which we will add detailed behaviors and follow them longitudinally. Our innovative study design will allow us to define CVH trajectories for a diverse group of children from birth through age 20. These trajectories will then be used to create a CVH growth curve ready for use in clinical practice. The findings from this study will be critical in targeting prevention strategies to high-risk children and critical periods during the life course in order to prevent the loss of CVH in childhood and preserve and promote CVH across the life course.
Building a causal pathway framework to identify interventions to eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity
The objectives of the proposed research are to build a causal pathway framework that helps us understand how multi-level social determinants and intermediary factors related to health and quality of health care together lead to severe maternal morbidity and its disparities. We will use this framework to analyze population-level data from multiple states. Our findings will enable us to identify actionable strategies to prevent this life-threatening outcome and promote equity in maternal health.
Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative
ILPQC is a collaborative of physicians, nurses, hospital teams, patients, public health and other stakeholders implementing data-driven, evidence-based practices to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in Illinois.
Working together to reduce disparities and improve outcomes for all birthing people and newborns across Illinois
Expanding birthing hospitals’ capacity for equitable implementation and sustainment of quality improvement through maternal safety bundles
Maternal and Infant Health Partnership
Primary Care Training and Enhancement-Community Prevention and Maternal Health
The purpose of this program is to train primary care physicians in maternal health care clinical services or population health in order to improve maternal health outcomes. The program will increase the number of primary care physicians trained in public health and general preventive medicine with maternal health care expertise and the number of primary care physicians trained in enhanced obstetrical care practicing in rural and/or underserved areas.
State Maternal Health Innovation Program
This project aims to expand awareness and utilization of resources to support obstetric providers to facilitate initial treatment and referral to mental health resources for obstetric patients who screen positive for or have identified / diagnosed mental health needs and improve patients’ access to mental health resources in their communities.