The transition to new parenthood was marked by dramatic changes in social roles and responsibilities. To support new parents, obstetric and pediatric healthcare surrounding this transition was designed with a supportive focus to facilitate their navigation of the attendant life changes.
The COVID-19 pandemic altered healthcare delivery in ways that limited these supportive obstetrics and pediatric services provided at the beginning of new parenthood. Consequently, aspects of preventative healthcare, such as monitoring for symptoms of postpartum depression, discussing optimal birth control options, educating parents on recommended adult and pediatric vaccinations, and providing anticipatory guidance on infant wellness, were less robust. In addition, without professional guidance and support, outcomes of foundational importance to new parents, such as perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, or parenting and breast-feeding self-efficacy, worsened.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the impact of the social determinants of health on new family wellness, with racial/ethnic minority and low-income families being differentially impacted by COVID-19-driven healthcare delivery changes. Recognizing the potential for longitudinal changes in healthcare delivery engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic, a scalable, patient-centered, equity-focused intervention designed to bridge gaps in healthcare services around the transition to new parenthood was needed.
This project, “Bridging gaps in healthcare delivery due to COVID-19 for parents and infants from birth through the first year of life,” aimed to evaluate Nursery2Home – a patient-informed digital healthcare intervention that was specifically responsive to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on new families, with a focus on health equity for racial/ethnic minority and low-income families. N2H built upon previous digital health successes of the team while incorporating the evidence-based collaborative care model for mental health support. N2H was designed to mitigate the adverse effects of healthcare delivery changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to improve health for mothers, fathers, and infants over the first year of life.
