Fall 2024 Newsletter

Summer Activities and Publications

It’s been a busy, productive few months this summer packed with exciting activities and new publications! Check out some summer publications from our Wallace community:

Clinician care priorities and practices in the fourth trimester: perspective from a California survey

This article explores how clinicians in California manage essential postpartum care, highlighting top priorities and uncovering gaps in addressing social factors. With Medi-Cal's extended postpartum coverage, this research sheds light on what's working—and what still needs improvement. Read more to discover key insights on how we can enhance postpartum care for new mothers!

What Do Community Doulas Think About the Future of the Doula Workforce?

Explore the future of maternal healthcare through the eyes of community doulas! This new study dives into how doulas are envisioning innovative solutions to improve the perinatal experiences and health outcomes of birthing people of color in the U.S.

Facilitators and Barriers to Medicaid Doula Benefit Implementation in California: Perspectives From Managed Care Plans and Risk-Bearing Organizations

Discover the latest insights on Medicaid doula services in California! With key findings on how doula services can improve maternal health outcomes, this publication highlights both facilitators and barriers to making these benefits accessible. This study dives into the opportunities and challenges of implementing Medi-Cal coverage for doulas, focusing on the perspectives of managed care plans and risk-bearing organizations.

This summer, the Wallace Center supported three MPH practica at high-impact MCAH community organizations in the Bay Area. Read below to learn more about what our summer MPH interns learned on the job!

Molly Adams

SisterWeb: San Francisco Community Doula Network

Molly worked at SisterWeb, a community-based non-profit improving perinatal care for Black birthing people in San Francisco, where she analyzed performance measures to ensure program impact. Read more here.

Julia Piccirillo-Stosser

SisterWeb: San Francisco Community Doula Network

Julia led the development of the Blossoming Birth Doula Training in collaboration with SisterWeb and the Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative, creating a scalable, community-rooted curriculum to enhance doula care for Black and Indigenous families across the U.S. Read more here.

Grace Rajan

Irth App: A bias-free review platform for Black and Brown birthing experiences

Grace worked with Irth App, leading projects to develop a data dissemination strategy and create a monitoring and evaluation framework for hospital partners. She collaborated with app developers to enhance UI/UX functionality, aiming to improve healthcare equity for Black and Brown families.

Continuing our multi-year collaboration with the Clue menstrual tracking app, the Wallace Center is beginning a new research project on perimenopause. The transition to menopause, known as perimenopause, is characterized by fluctuating hormone levels, variable cycle lengths, and a wide array of symptoms such as hot flashes, mood changes, and sleep problems. Despite being such a significant life phase, research on perimenopause is lacking, with little known about when each individual may enter perimenopause, how long it will last, what unique array of symptoms they might expect, and what factors might influence these symptoms.

This study will use Clue cycle data and user surveys to better understand the range of symptom patterns people experience and how they change throughout the perimenopause journey. This can help researchers and clinicians to better understand perimenopause, unlocking opportunities to provide better resources, tools, and guidance to support those who are navigating through this transition.

To read more about the Wallace Center’s work with Clue, check out our previous papers here.

UCSF Favors Pricey Doctoral Program for Nurse-Midwives Amid Maternal Care Crisis

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has announced a transition from its two-year master’s program for nurse-midwives to a three-year Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. This change is troubling for the midwifery community, since it is likely to decrease the available workforce and comes at a time when easier access to midwifery training is needed.

For more details, read the full article here.

Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy

This study explores the neuroanatomical changes that occur in the human brain during pregnancy, including reductions in gray matter and cortical thickness, alongside increases in white matter integrity. These changes, influenced by hormonal shifts, help prepare the brain for motherhood and caregiving behaviors. Some of these structural transformations persist well after birth, providing new insights into how pregnancy shapes the brain over time.

Check out the full publication here.