Samantha Tapia, 2025 MPH Summer Intern
This summer, I had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Lindsay Parham, Dr. Carly Strouse, and Marisol De Ornelas on the Quality Improvement for Health Equity in Reproduction Initiative (QI4HER+). The QI4HER+ initiative is a research collaboration between the Wallace Center, Alameda Health System’s Department of Obstetrics, Midwifery, and Gynecology, and the Alameda County Public Health Department–with the primary aim to improve perinatal care and birth equity in Alameda County.
My work this summer involved conducting a mixed-methods evaluation of the Spanish CenteringPregnancy program at Highland Hospital in Oakland. The evaluation’s aims were to assess the overall program model and inform how it can be further culturally tailored.
As the lead for the quantitative evaluation, we conducted a preliminary descriptive analysis using EHR data on health outcomes (i.e., depression scores) and healthcare process measures (i.e., depression screening rates) among Spanish Centering patients to patients who completed traditional 1:1 prenatal care. Some of key findings included increased mental health screening rates (prenatal and postpartum depression and anxiety), mental health diagnoses, and breastfeeding rates upon discharge from the hospital for SC patients. Additionally, I worked alongside my co-intern Noemi to support the facilitation of qualitative interviews and focus groups with Spanish speaking patients to better understand their program experiences and identify any unmet needs during the postpartum period. Participants consistently described Spanish Centering as a source of healing, empowerment, and trust throughout their birthing experience and into postpartum.
My role as a summer researcher with ACPHD and UC Berkeley has reaffirmed my passion for pursuing a career at the intersection of community health and clinical practice. I’ve been especially grateful for the opportunity to engage with culturally-concordant prenatal group models like Spanish Centering, and to learn from the stories of patients whose experiences have deeply informed the Transformation work and my vision for my career. It was incredibly rewarding to bring forward the stories of the Spanish Centering patients, while bridging its connection to the clinical data we were seeing. The research team, in addition to ACPHD and AHS support members, have been generous in providing mentorship throughout the summer. This experience has been incredibly enriching and has played a meaningful role in shaping my growth as an early public health professional.