COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M School of Nursing received a $2.28 million grant to address maternal health and disparities throughout our neighborhoods.
Texas A&M has collaborated with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Driscoll Children’s Hospital, and the Global Institute for Hispanic Health to bring change to underserved mothers.
This grant was part of a federal grant looking for minority serving institutions to create a maternal health research center.
The project is titled ‘CHAMPions.’
“CHAMPions is an acronym for Community Hands Advancing Maternal Health Promotion,” Dr. Robin Page said. Associate Professor/Director, Program of Excellence for Mothers, Children, and Families, Texas A&M.
Dr. Robin Page is an Associate Professor and Director with the Texas A&M School of Nursing and Program of Excellence for Mothers, Children, and Families. She is partnering with other institutions and healthcare facilities to make CHAMPions happen.
“It’s really a community level intervention to help at-risk mothers, families and children,” Dr. Page said.
While Texas is ranked the highest state for maternal mortality rates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states, in 2021, Texas reported more than 43.9 deaths per 1,000 births compared to the national average of 33 deaths per 100,000.
“We know that suicide is one of the top causes of maternal mortality,” Dr. Page said. “Homicide is another one, so we can screen for things like intimate partner violence.”
Texas A&M School of Nursing is currently in year one of the grant, planning the logistics of the program and how to best integrate maternal health in maternity care deserts.
“We’ll have quality improvement checks so that we can make adjustments as we get feedback from participants in the program and also from our community partners who are there in the area because we value feedback from the community,” Dr. Page said.
The program will initially serve five counties in the Coastal Bend area and if the program is successful, the goal is to expand to more Texas counties.
“We can meet women where they are at in their homes, hopefully in a safe place and provide screenings for some of these at-risk conditions and then help navigate them to their local resources in the community,” Dr. Page said.
Throughout the five-year span of the grant, CHAMPions will be co-managed from Bryan-College Station and Corpus Christi.
The effectiveness of the program curriculum will then be evaluated to implement in clinics in our neighborhoods.