
Mothers with hospitalized medically fragile infants are a high-risk population that may have both increased need for and barriers to accessing health care in the postpartum period. The importance of postpartum health for these mothers is amplified by increased demands of caring for a medically fragile infant and increased urgency for birth spacing and risk reduction for future pregnancies. There is limited research about the health care needs, utilization, and experience with health care services for these mothers. There is equally limited research about management of postpartum recovery in the context of mothering a fragile and/or hospitalized baby and the perspectives of OB/GYN and neonatal care providers and health system administrators as to their roles and responsibilities for the health care of these women.
Through this research project, we will identify the challenges these mothers have in accessing care as well as propose recommended modifications to the current system of care. This will result in ensuring access to quality health care for these women, resulting in the healthy development of MCH populations. Our research team, with guidance from the Neonatal Critical Care Center Family Advisory Board, will synthesize learning from multiple research approaches into a series of recommendations for health care systems. This research will enrich the field by identifying the needs of a high-risk population of mothers and proposing recommendations for change. Given the growing national interest in postpartum care, this research will support program implementation based on well- defined maternal health needs in the context of feasible system changes.

Patterns of opiate prescribing following cesarean birth. – SMFM’s 38th Annual Pregnancy Meeting (2018)
Racial Equity and Access to pasteurized donor human milk in hospital setting. – 14th Breastfeeding and Feminism International Conference (March 2019)
Birth Control Utilization Among Mothers Of Infants With An Extended Stay In The NICU -ISPE’s 36th International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology and Therapeutic Risk Management (ICPE) – ICPE All Access (September 2020)
The Association between Travel Time and Prenatal Care Attendance. Am J Perinatol. 2019 Jun 12. doi: 10.1055/s-0039-1692455. [Epub ahead of print]
The Association between Travel Time and Prenatal Care Attendance. Maldonado LY1, Fryer KE2, Tucker CM1, Stuebe AM1,3.
Health Needs of Mothers of Infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit : A Mixed-Methods Study Ann Intern Med 2020 Dec 1;173(11 Suppl):S37-S44. doi: 10.7326/M19-3252. Sarah Verbiest 1 , Renée Ferrari 2 , Christine Tucker 3 , Erin K McClain 4 , Nkechi Charles 3 , Alison M Stuebe 5
Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Postpartum Pain Evaluation and Management Obstet Gynecol 2019 Dec;134(6):1155-1162. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003505.Jasmine D Johnson 1 , Ifeyinwa V Asiodu, Christine P McKenzie, Christine Tucker, Kristin P Tully, Katherine Bryant, Sarah Verbiest, Alison M Stuebe
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number R40MC29455, Maternal and Child Health Field-initiated Innovative Research Studies Program. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.