1. Welcome to the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine
  2. Research
  3. Perinatal Healthcare Expectations, Experiences and Discrimination (PHEED) Study

Perinatal Healthcare Expectations, Experiences and Discrimination (PHEED) Study

Study funded by LINCATS (Long Island Network for Clinical and Translational Science) Pilot Program

Discrimination in Prenatal Care

  • Social, psychological and behavioral factors are related to poorer maternal and infant outcomes
  • Discrimination is one of the mechanisms that may explain this
  • Discrimination impacts biophysical aspects of health and health behaviors (like healthcare utilization).
  • Discrimination is linked to higher risks for:
    • Stress
    • Preterm birth
    • Postpartum depression
  • Pregnant persons from understudied, underrepresented, and underreported (U3) populations experience a greater degree of discrimination.
    • Particularly individuals receiving care at Stony Brook University outpatient obstetric clinics, including persons with opioid use disorder and mental health disorders who are English and Spanish speaking.

 

PHEED Study Goals

 

PHEED chart

Community Partnerships

 

  • Collaboration with community organization serving the study population
  • Collaboration with patient-partners representing the study population
  • Provide feedback on the research design (questions we are asking)
  • Help us understand the results we find
  • Advise how we can use this work to improve healthcare delivery
  • Help share this information
  • Recommendations, comments, and advice will come from your experiences

PHEED Study Primary Objectives

 

Quantitatively examine the impacts of discrimination on prenatal care expectations and experiences among pregnant persons across pregnancy and postpartum (general population).

Qualitatively explore prenatal care expectations and needs of U3 populations across pregnancy and postpartum.

Research Design

  • Mixed methods the longitudinal with three time points:
  • Quantitative - validated online surveys
  • Qualitative - one-on-one virtual interviews with select U3 subpopulation targets
  • Electronic medical record data
PHEED Research Graph

PHEED Project Team:

PHEED Project Team

Clinicians:

 

Physician
Cassandra Heiselman, DO, MPH (PI)
Physician
David Garry, DO
Physician
Courtney Liebling, MD
Physician
Emily Stetler, MD
 
 
 
 

 

Researchers:

 

Physician
Heidi Preis, PhD (Co-PI)
Physician
Clare Whitney, PhD, MBE, RN
Physician
Giselle Gerardi, PhD, RN, RNC-OB
 





Research Support:

 

Physician
Andromeda Torre
Physician
Emily Farkas
Physician
Alessa Ramos Vargas
 


 

Community partners

Community Organizations

OLA

OLA (Organización Latino Americana) of Eastern Long Island (https://www.olaofeasternlongisland.org/)

Passages logo

Passages Wellness and Counseling for Women (https://www.passageswomen.com/)  
631-941-1200/ info@passageswomen.com/ 348 Main Street East Setauket, NY 11733/ 33 Candee Ave Sayville, NY 11782
 

Outreach

Outreach (https://opiny.org/) 

HCC

Hispanic Counseling Center (https://www.hispaniccounseling.org/) 

 

Contact Us: pregnancysdstudy@stonybrookmedicine.edu