The grant is housed at the Medical University of South Carolina. Constance Guille, M.D. serves as the Principal Investigator.
What is the research about?
The rate of complications after giving birth is higher for U.S. women than it is in any other developed country. Women of color and women with low incomes have the highest risk of dying after giving birth. Improving the care that women receive in the six weeks after giving birth may help to improve women’s health outcomes and reduce their risk of death.
In this study, the research team is comparing two ways to provide care to women after they give birth:
- Enhanced usual care. Women receive enhanced usual care from doctors before and after they give birth. Doctors screen patients for medical, mental health, and social needs. They follow best practices to prepare women to leave the hospital. For example, they may provide information about early signs of complications after birth or refer women to other services.
- Enhanced usual care plus text message screening. In addition to enhanced usual care, women receive texts to help them spot early signs of complications after birth. The texts also look to see if doctors have addressed each woman’s concerns about care. If a woman’s response to a text suggests a problem, a nurse receives an alert. The nurse then contacts the woman to refer her to follow-up care and connect her to resources as needed.
Research Goals & Aims
The goal of the Randomized Controlled Trial is to test the comparative effectiveness of delivering AIM safety bundles in-person vs. via text/phone to improve early detection of and timely care for complications during the first six weeks postpartum among Medicaid patients.
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- Reduce the rate of postpartum ED visits and inpatient admissions (overall, by demographic risk group, and by avoidable type (IFS measured).
- Determine differences in postpartum Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) among patients assigned to LTWP, compared to SOC: Access to needed primary, outpatient, or postpartum care (IFS measured), greater maternal well-being and functioning, lower discrimination and depression scores, and less substance use
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Who can this research help?
Results may help health systems and hospital administrators when considering ways to reduce complications among women after they give birth.