The Black maternal health landscape in New York City remains critical, with Black women being more likely to face pregnancy-related death and experience severe maternal morbidity (8x and 2.3x respectively) compared to their White counterparts. Key drivers for these adverse outcomes continue to be cardiovascular and mental health conditions. To address these stark disparities in maternal health outcomes, a community-academic partnership was leveraged to develop a culturally competent and community informed health education intervention that prioritized the intersections of cardiovascular health, mental wellness and maternal health. The piloted initiative utilized a community based participatory research (CBPR) approach to conduct a program evaluation. In leveraging an existing community-academic partnership, community needs were identified to inform programmatic activities and support participant outreach. Five responsive health education workshops were implemented, reaching 190 community members. Participants were educated and empowered with knowledge on nutrition, cardiovascular and mental health critical for the perinatal period. Survey data was collected for programmatic evaluations. Participants identified as Black (68%), and female (82%). Survey analysis shows 85% of workshop participants felt empowered to apply what was learned into practice, and found the content easy to understand and effectively communicated. Moreover, 81% of participants responded being likely to share the health information learned within their social network. The CBPR approach used in designing this community-level intervention is critical in addressing maternal health disparities within communities of color. It ensured the sustainable delivery of cardiovascular related education programs with integrated mental health knowledge critical for the perinatal period.
Pierre et al. (2026) studied this question.