MAMA LOVE

‍What is MAMA LOVE?

MAMA LOVE is an online platform that helps pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people identify dangerous symptoms that need timely follow up. MAMA LOVE is not intended to replace a medical provider and it does not diagnose problems.

The platform is intended to be an education and communication tool that can be used by patients, family members, and birth workers to help identify and address medical, mental health, and social factors that have the potential to increase the risk for maternal morbidity and mortality.

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Contact Launch App

Why is MAMA LOVE important?

MAMA LOVE seeks to identify and empower people with information when they need it the most. Missed or delayed recognition of risk factors and life-threatening signs and symptoms i has been cited as a contributing factor to the nation’s worsening mortality rates. In many communities across the country, these issues are further exacerbated due to obstetric provider shortages resulting in inadequate assessment and follow up. MAMA LOVE is a resource designed to help individuals to figure out what to do if they develop symptoms that need timely follow along with resources about those symptoms and potential conditions.

Additionally, MAMA LOVE helps the user to create an individualized report to facilitate communication with their provider. It has been reported that women may delay seeking care due to concerns about being ignored. MAMA LOVE can help birthing people evaluate their symptoms in real time and communicate these concerns objectively to their providers regardless of concerns about mistreatment.

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Benefits of MAMA LOVE Once selecting the symptoms within each category, users will receive:

A table outlining potential conditions associated with the symptoms selected
Recommendations on follow-up timelines for selected symptoms
Educational and resource links for selected symptoms
A downloadable document of all physical, mental health, and social factors selected which can be presented to healthcare providers to help with communication.

Study Team

Alexis

Dunn Amore

PhD, CNM, FACNM, FAAN

Alexis Dunn Amore is a tenure track Assistant Professor at the Emory University School of Nursing and a Certified Nurse Midwife at the Atlanta Birth Center.

Dr. Dunn Amore is committed to advancing the health of those most vulnerable. Her research and service are focused on dismantling perinatal health disparities as well as developing initiatives to address the root causes of maternal mortality. Her work has improved the health of thousands of women through research and clinical practice as well as advocacy efforts on the state and national level. She is a fellow in the American College of Nurse Midwives and the American Academy of Nursing in which she actively serves on several committees. She is passionate about the community and works in collaboration with Georgia community organizations to develop timely and innovative strategies to address disparities in health outcomes for black women during pregnancy, as well as initiatives to build social support and resilience in the birth community.

Dr. Dunn Amore has received funding for her research from the National Institutes of Health, the American College of Nurse Midwives, and Emory University. She has published in a variety of journals including the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health and Biological Research for Nursing. Additionally, Dr. Dunn Amore actively disseminates health-related information through mainstream and social media outlets, and has been featured on NPR radio as well as television broadcasts for Fox 5 Atlanta.

Abby

Britt

MPH, CNM, PhD Student

Abby is a PhD student at the Emory Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of nursing and a practicing midwife with the Emory Nurse-Midwifery Service at Grady. She came to midwifery through pursuing a master's degree in public anthropology with an emphasis on human rights and working with survivors of trauma. She completed her BSN and MSN as a Fuld Fellow at the Emory School of Nursing. Her research interests include respectful maternity care, trauma/PTSD, epigenetic/physiologic impacts of stress/trauma on perinatal outcomes, and trauma-informed care.

Originally from Tennessee, Abby now lives in Decatur with her husband and two daughters. When she is not working, you can find Abby outdoors with her family, trying out a new restaurant, or planning for her next travel opportunity.

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Partners

Community Organization and Consultants

Funding: This study is funded by the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Fund, Inc. (Woodruff Fund) Trustees of Emory University

Emory Technology and App Development Experts

Emory Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
App Hatchery

Community Members and Support

Emory University Healthcare and University colleagues
Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies of GA
Northside Preeclampsia Clinic
American College of Nurse Midwives: GA Affiliate
Atlanta Birth Center
Local Doula Organizations
Dr. Shalons Maternal Action Project

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How MAMA LOVE was Developed

The web-based app risk assessment tool was developed by midwife researchers who evaluated individual risk factors and community level contributors associated with the 21 leading severe maternal morbidity (SMM) outcomes associated with maternal mortality (MM). According to published national CDC data and reports, the team also incorporated maternal mental health factors such as exposure to violence, and substance use. Additionally, the team incorporated clinical practice guidelines, CDC guidelines, and community input to design the platform.

After a prototype of the app was created, it was evaluated by different community groups consisting of key stakeholders, including patients who themselves had experiences with high risk conditions. Additionally healthcare professionals including midwives, obstetricians, doulas, and community organizations provided insight into key elements that should be included in the tool. After each round of feedback, changes were incorporated into the tool via an iterative process grounded in community based participatory research methods.

What is Community Based Participatory Research?

Community based participatory research is a partnership approach to research that equitably involves community members, organizational representatives, and academic researchers in all aspects of the research process. The MAMA LOVE project partnered with different individuals and entities in the community to develop a platform that is both relevant and user friendly for birthing people.

We are partnered with several community organization, who have agreed to support the dissemination of MAMA LOVE to the community!

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Frequently Asked Questions

What do we hope to achieve by launching MAMA LOVE?

We hope to provide a reliable and effective resource to assist birthing people in identifying life threatening symptoms in a timely fashion, especially among Black birthing population who have the highest risk of maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States.

Who will benefit from using MAMA LOVE?

It is our hope that patients, families, healthcare systems, and communities will benefit from using MAMA LOVE.

What happens to the information that I enter on the platform?

Any information entered on the platform is confidential. The data entered will help the research team to refine MAMA LOVE to best serve pregnant, birthing, and postpartum people and their families.