Partnership to Improve Postpartum Care In and Beyond the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Advancing Best Practices to Improve Postpartum Care In and Beyond the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Care for NICU Families) focuses on the unique needs of postpartum parents and their medically fragile infants. Better care for NICU postpartum parents will lead to improvements in outcomes for this high-risk mom/baby pair.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) mothers demonstrate significant chronic health conditions and unmet social, emotional, mental, and physical health needs. NICUs are designed to address infant health and often do not accommodate the needs of postpartum people who are recovering from childbirth. Care for NICU mothers and infants can be improved if we emphasize that the postpartum parent and her neonate are interconnected. Our overall project goal is to engage and build a strong partnership with maternal and infant care organizations/experts, people with lived experience, doulas, and related communities to inform the needs and approaches for improving services and care for postpartum families with infants in the NICU.
Providing NICU and community-based resources and social supports will reduce maternal mortality and morbidity, increase infant access to human milk, and address parental mental health and trauma, and improve infant developmental outcomes. We will improve care by identifying best practices, growing partnerships, listening to community, developing and sharing recommendations to support families with infants in the NICU through 3-months postpartum.
Our Recent Work
Bright Spots Environmental Scan
This video highlighted programs discovered through outreach to professionals and leaders in the field.
Scoping Review
This video highlights findings from the large review of the published literature on postpartum care for NICU families.
Listening to Community
This video summarizes findings from the LEAG, doula, and community-listening sessions.
Dr. Asiodu 
Dr. Bugg 
Dr. Price 
Dr. Verbiest
About the UNC Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health 4th Trimester Project, UNC Department of Pediatrics, UNC Jordan Institute for Families
The Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health (UNC) team provides leadership on several state and national public health campaigns and quality improvement projects with experience in developing and implementing training and toolkits / evidence-based practice focused on systems to improve care for mothers, families, and their infants. They have implemented parent-designed tools for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Postpartum Care Bundle and provide technical assistance to clinics across the country through the 4th Trimester Project (https://newmomhealth.com/healthcare).
The UNC team is housed within the UNC Departments of OB/GYN and Pediatrics which bring a wealth of clinical expertise. Dr. Verbiest also directs the Jordan Institute for Families at the UNC School of Social Work which focuses on building economic and social supports for families with young children.
NewMomHealth.com/about/our-team/ | www.MomBaby.org | JordanFamilies.org
About Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere
ROSE was founded to address breastfeeding disparities for communities of color. As a national expert and in partnership with communities across the country, they build equity in maternal and child health through culturally competent training, education, advocacy, and support.
About University of California San Francisco School of Nursing
University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. Consistently ranked among the best nursing schools nationwide, the UCSF School of Nursing is a vibrant community of dedicated nurse leaders, nurse scientists, clinicians, students and staff who share a common drive to educate diverse health leaders, conduct research, advance nursing and provide public service that promotes health quality and equity. Learn more at nursing.ucsf.edu.
About The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works to protect America’s health, safety, and security. The CDC uses grants and cooperative agreements to fund research and non-research public health programs that advance the agency’s public health mission domestically and abroad to keep Americans safe and healthy where they work, live, and play. For more information: https://www.cdc.gov/
Our Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) provides input and guidance to inform the project, materials developed and evaluation. They also help with dissemination.
Our Professional Advisory Group (PAG) supports our team in identifying best practices and informing the materials that the project develops. They also support dissemination efforts. Members of the PAG include representatives from the following organizations:
- National Perinatal Association
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Postpartum Support International
- Association of Women’s Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
- National Institute for Children’s Health Quality
- Women & Infants Hospital Neonatal Research Network
- Mott Children’s and VonVoigtlander Women’s Hospital Michigan Health
- UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders
- Global Simon Group
- The Black Doula Inc/For The Village/Loads of Pride, SOLOTIS
- BADT Program Manager and Teacher
Citations:
- Hoyert DL. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2021. NCHS Health E-Stats. 2023.
- Verbiest, S, Ferrari, R, Tucker, C, McClain, EK, Charles, N, Stub, AM (2020). “Health Needs of Mothers of Infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Mixed-Methods study.” Ann Intern Med 173(11_Supplement): S37-S44. And Stub, AM, Tucker, C, Ferrari, RM, McClain, E, onsson-Funk, M, Pate, V, Bryant K, Charles, N and Verbiest, S (2022). “Perinatal morbidity and health utilization among mothers of medically fragile infants.” Jerinatol 42(2): 169-176.
- Ferrari, RM, McClain, EK, Tucker, C, Charles, N, Verbiest S, Lewis V, Bryant K, Stub AM (2022). “Postpartum Health Experiences of Women with Newborns in Intensive Care: The Desire to be by the e Infant Bedside as a Driver of Postpartum Health.” J Midwifery Women’s health.
To learn more about the “Care for NICU Families” Project and receive updates about this work, be sure you are subscribed to our listerv.
Explore Resources for NICU Parents from the 4th Trimester Project team. The team has also created free, open-access, evidence-based tools for care and community teams – Browse the Resource Center.
Help Advance Care for NICU Families: Provider Survey
We are seeking programs or resources healthcare teams use and/or recommend to support and serve families in the NICU
Please submit NICU resources you know of in this quick survey link. Our team hopes to learn about NICU tools and resources that will inform best practices, strategies, and tools for postpartum NICU support:
We will review the recommendations you submit to help inform strategies and opportunities to better care for families in the NICU.
For questions about this survey, contact Katherine_Bryant@med.unc.edu.
