. 2025 May:152:107850.

doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107850. Epub 2025 Feb 21.

MOMs Chat & Care Study: Rationale and design of a pragmatic randomized clinical trial to prevent severe maternal morbidity among Black birthing people

Collaborators, Affiliations

Collaborators

MOMs Chat Care Research Group:
Heejoon Ahn¹³, Tara Colonel¹³, Adriann Combs¹³, Micole Galapo-Goldstein¹³, Leona Hariharan¹⁴, Martine Hackett¹⁵, Stephanie Izard¹³, Nubia Martin¹⁶, Choukri Messaoudi¹³, Sheryl Morgan¹⁷, Michael Nimaroff¹³, Abibatu Giwa-Osagie¹³, Clementina Sarpong¹³, Tanyka Smith¹³, Fernando Suarez¹³, Latham Thomas¹⁴, Vanessa Walker¹³, Nneka Walker¹⁸, Nellie Taylor-Walthurst¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: sfitzpatrick1@northwell.edu.
² Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: jpolo1@northwell.edu.
³ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: pephraim@northwell.edu.
⁴ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: evrany@northwell.edu.
⁵ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: cchiuzan@northwell.edu.
⁶ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: mbasile2@northwell.edu.
⁷ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: cpfriel@gmail.com.
⁸ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: KMoon2@northwell.edu.
⁹ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: esilvia@northwell.edu.
¹⁰ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: Hbleau@northwell.edu.
¹¹ George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA. Electronic address: wanda.nicholson@email.gwu.edu.
¹² Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: dlewis@northwell.edu.
¹³ Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, NY, USA.
¹⁴ Mama Glow, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
¹⁵ Birth Justice Warriors, Long Island, New York, USA.
¹⁶ Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁷ Women's Diversity Network, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁸ Patient Representative.

PMID: 39987957
PMCID: PMC11994271 (available on 2026-05-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107850

MOMs Chat & Care Study: Rationale and design of a pragmatic randomized clinical trial to prevent severe maternal morbidity among Black birthing people

Stephanie L Fitzpatrick et al. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 May.

. 2025 May:152:107850.

doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107850. Epub 2025 Feb 21.

Collaborators

MOMs Chat Care Research Group:
Heejoon Ahn¹³, Tara Colonel¹³, Adriann Combs¹³, Micole Galapo-Goldstein¹³, Leona Hariharan¹⁴, Martine Hackett¹⁵, Stephanie Izard¹³, Nubia Martin¹⁶, Choukri Messaoudi¹³, Sheryl Morgan¹⁷, Michael Nimaroff¹³, Abibatu Giwa-Osagie¹³, Clementina Sarpong¹³, Tanyka Smith¹³, Fernando Suarez¹³, Latham Thomas¹⁴, Vanessa Walker¹³, Nneka Walker¹⁸, Nellie Taylor-Walthurst¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: sfitzpatrick1@northwell.edu.
² Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: jpolo1@northwell.edu.
³ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: pephraim@northwell.edu.
⁴ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: evrany@northwell.edu.
⁵ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: cchiuzan@northwell.edu.
⁶ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: mbasile2@northwell.edu.
⁷ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: cpfriel@gmail.com.
⁸ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: KMoon2@northwell.edu.
⁹ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: esilvia@northwell.edu.
¹⁰ Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: Hbleau@northwell.edu.
¹¹ George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA. Electronic address: wanda.nicholson@email.gwu.edu.
¹² Northwell, New Hyde Park, New York, USA. Electronic address: dlewis@northwell.edu.
¹³ Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, NY, USA.
¹⁴ Mama Glow, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
¹⁵ Birth Justice Warriors, Long Island, New York, USA.
¹⁶ Black Coalition for Safe Motherhood, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁷ Women's Diversity Network, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁸ Patient Representative.

PMID: 39987957
PMCID: PMC11994271 (available on 2026-05-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107850

Abstract

Background: Black birthing people are disproportionately affected by severe maternal morbidity (SMM). The MOMs Chat & Care Study (R01NR021134) is a pragmatic, randomized clinical trial designed to test the effectiveness of an integrated care model to facilitate timely, appropriate care for high-risk Black birthing people and reduce the risk for SMM.

Methods: We will recruit 674 adult, English and Spanish-speaking Black birthing people who are less than 17 weeks gestational age, considered high risk based on the Obstetrics-Comorbidity Index and/or history of preeclampsia, and receive care at a Northwell Health obstetric practice. Participants will be randomized to either MOMs High Touch or Low Touch. In both intervention arms participants will receive close monitoring via chatbot technology and navigation to timely care and services by the MOMs team throughout the prenatal and postpartum periods, Fitbit to track physical activity, and bi-weekly postpartum telehealth visits up to 6-weeks postpartum. MOMs High Touch will also receive 12 bi-weekly self-management support telehealth visits during pregnancy and a home blood pressure monitor. The two arms will be compared on incidence of SMM at labor and delivery (Aim 1), SMM-related hospitalizations at 1-month and 1-year postpartum (Aim 1a), time to preeclampsia diagnosis and treatment (Aim 2), perceived social support (Aim 3), and physical activity trajectories (exploratory Aim 4). Mixed methods will be used to examine facilitators and barriers to intervention implementation (Aim 5).

Conclusion: Findings from this study will inform how to feasibly implement an effective and sustainable integrated care approach to address SMM disparities.

Registration of clinical trials: This trial is registered on www.

Clinicaltrials: gov (NCT06335381).

Protocol version: 07/22/2024, 24-0131-NH.

Keywords: Disparities; Equity; Maternal health; Severe maternal morbidity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

1. Declercq E, Zephyrin L. Severe maternal morbidity in the United States: A primer. Accessed September 1, 2022. commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/Declercq_severe_materna.... October 28, 2021.
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1. Liese KL, Mogos M, Abboud S, Decocker K, Koch AR, Geller SE. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity in the United States. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. Aug 2019;6(4):790–798. doi:10.1007/s40615-019-00577-w - DOI - PubMed
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MOMs Chat & Care Study: Rationale and design of a pragmatic randomized clinical trial to prevent severe maternal morbidity among Black birthing people

Collaborators

Affiliations

MOMs Chat & Care Study: Rationale and design of a pragmatic randomized clinical trial to prevent severe maternal morbidity among Black birthing people

Authors

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Conflict of interest statement

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