The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is soliciting ideas
for a multi-site project it intends to fund to build relationships and support
networks with pregnant women at risk of pre-term delivery. The initiative is an
outgrowth of state efforts to address the racial disparities in Ohio's infant
mortality rate.
The initiative is meant to help reduce pre-term births,
the leading cause of infant death. According to ODH, prematurity was a
significant factor in about 78 percent of deaths of black infants in 2017, and
64 percent of white infants.
ODH envisions the project as bringing together several
women with similar due dates for a "structured prenatal care program"
facilitated by a clinician and including health screenings and physical
assessments, interactive learning and social support.
"Evidence suggests that patients who have or develop
strong personal support networks in this manner have better prenatal knowledge,
feel more ready for labor and delivery, are more satisfied with care and
initiative breastfeeding more often, according to the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists," ODH stated in an announcement of the
funding effort.
The model is meant to work with the women from the first
trimester of pregnancy through their babies' first year of life. Curriculum to
be developed must address prenatal and postpartum medical care, stress
reduction, increasing social and community support and social determinants of
health such as health behaviors, mental health, health care access and housing.
"Because the Ohio-specific model will address both
medical and social needs of the mother, it is expected that this approach will
help reduce prematurity, including racial disparities," ODH stated.
ODH expects to implement the project at several sites,
and for a final report to evaluate birth outcomes; racial disparities; maternal
outcomes including stress, appropriate weight gain and engagement in postpartum
care; satisfaction with prenatal care including sensitivity and social support;
and engagement in prenatal care.
The ODH request for proposals is available at https://procure.ohio.gov/proc/viewProcOpps.asp?oppID=15587