Understanding Breastfeeding Success Using Smart Devices
Official title: Enhancing Breastfeeding Outcomes through Digital Phenotyping
Funded at Northeastern University · NIH-11140973 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses smart devices to understand how a mother's lifestyle before and after birth affects her breastfeeding journey.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Northeastern University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $227,578 |
| NIH project number | 5R21HD116102-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11140973 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project is looking for mothers in their third trimester who are planning to breastfeed and are willing to use smart devices to share lifestyle information.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are not pregnant or are not planning to breastfeed would not directly benefit from participating in this specific research.
What this research studies
This project aims to understand the many factors that influence breastfeeding success by using everyday smart devices. We will gather information from smartphones and smartwatches to learn about a mother's sleep, exercise, mood, and daily activities during her third trimester and after birth. By collecting this information passively and through short surveys, we hope to identify key lifestyle patterns that help or hinder breastfeeding. This deeper understanding can lead to better support for new mothers and their babies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to personalized support and interventions that help more mothers achieve their breastfeeding goals and improve child health.
How similar studies have gone: While digital tools are increasingly used in health research, this specific approach to comprehensively link digital phenotyping during the third trimester to breastfeeding outcomes is a novel area of exploration.
Where this research is happening
-
Northeastern University
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sathyanarayana, Aarti — Northeastern University
- Study coordinator: Sathyanarayana, Aarti
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.