Connecting patients and clinics to improve postpartum care in the Mississippi Delta
Official title: Empowering Women for Postpartum Care and Reproductive Health in Mississippi Delta
Run by Jackson State University · NCT06481631 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will try community health worker home visits plus a communication and health-literacy program to see if they increase trust and postpartum care engagement among high-risk postpartum mothers in five Mississippi Delta counties.
Quick facts
| Study type | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Ages | 18 Years to 45 Years |
| Sex | Women only |
| Enrollment | 250 (estimated) |
| Sponsor | Jackson State University Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Jackson, Mississippi) |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Started | June 1, 2025 |
| Main results expected | June 30, 2029 |
| Study ends | June 30, 2030 |
| Registry record updated | June 8, 2026 |
| Trial ID | NCT06481631 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
Is this trial a fit for you?
✓Likely a good fit
Ideal participants are postpartum mothers aged 18–45 who were identified as having a high-risk pregnancy and reside in Washington, Bolivar, Scott, Humphreys, or Carroll counties, with local maternal providers and community health leaders also engaged.
✕Probably not a fit
People who are not identified as high-risk, are under 18, had a cesarean birth, or do not live in the five target counties are excluded and unlikely to benefit from this project.
A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.
What this trial studies
This effort establishes a Mississippi Delta Research Center of Excellence for Maternal Health and runs two linked projects using community participation. Project 1 tests an evidence-based community health worker home-visiting program co-designed with patients and local partners. Project 2 implements a multilevel, multisector communication and health-literacy strategy grounded in the PEN-3 model to boost trust and engagement in postpartum care. Outcomes include measures of trust, care engagement, and impacts on preventable maternal morbidity and mortality in the target counties.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could increase postpartum care use, strengthen trust in local healthcare, and help reduce preventable maternal complications and deaths in the Mississippi Delta.
How similar studies have gone: Community health worker home-visiting programs and targeted health-literacy/communication interventions have shown benefits in maternal and child health elsewhere, but this specific, community-partnered package in the Mississippi Delta is relatively novel.
Who can join: the full rules
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Identified as high risk pregnancy * Postpartum mothers/parents 18-45 years * Resident of the one of 5 target counties (Washington, Bolivar, Scott, Humphreys, and Carroll) * Maternal healthcare providers in target counties * Maternal community health leaders Exclusion Criteria: * not identified as high risk pregnancy * 18 years of age postpartum * cesarean birth * non-resident of the 5 target counties
Where it's running
-
Jackson State University/Department of Behavioral & Environmental Health
Jackson, Mississippi, United States Recruiting
Study contacts
- Principal investigator: Mary Shaw, PhD — Jackson State University
- Study coordinator: Mary Shaw, PhD
- Email: mary.shaw@jsums.edu
- Phone: 601-979-3103
Similar studies
Other studies for the same condition or treatment. Recruiting studies are listed first.
-
Mississippi Delta community home visits for postpartum mothers
This program will try community health worker home visits and improved communication strategies to support high-risk postpartum mothers in five Mississippi Delta counties.
-
My Symptoms Young: a web-based program for teens and young adults with persistent physical symptoms
A web-based self-help program is being tested to see if it helps 15- to 25-year-olds with persistent physical symptoms in primary care, and whether health literacy affects how well they use it.
-
AI-simplified discharge summaries to improve patient understanding
This randomized pilot tests whether ContextCare can help adults understand their discharge information better than standard discharge words and printouts.
-
Digital Health Education to Improve Heart Health Across Different Socioeconomic Groups (e-DUCASS Advance)
This study tests a 24-month digital health education program to see if it can improve cardiovascular health among people in Córdoba, Spain from varied socioeconomic backgrounds, by delivering weekly online content to families.
-
AI care summaries to help caregivers understand their child’s hospitalization
This trial tests whether an AI-generated plain-language summary of inpatient notes helps caregivers of hospitalized children understand their child’s care better.
-
Agentic LLM for Shared Decision Making in Health Care
This project tests an agentic large language model to help patients participate in health decisions, especially for those with lower health literacy.
How to take part
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
- Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.