MommaConnect, a mobile health platform (mHealth) based on our evidence-based Mother-Baby Connections (MBC) perinatal mental health program

Project Summary Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common childbirth complication that affects 10-15% of all women, with long-term adverse health outcomes for mothers and their infants. African American/Black (AA/B) women are twice as likely to experience PPD compared to White women. However, despite severe outcomes, many AA/B mother-infant dyads do not receive specialized mental health care due to barriers such as mental health stigma, healthcare inequities, childcare issues, transportation challenges, and poor access to specialized treatment tailored to PPD. Furthermore, AA/B women’s use of mental health services is also influenced by the Strong Black Woman schema (SBW; i.e., AA/B women’s belief in the need to be “independent, self-silencing, and self-sacrificing”). An evidence-based, culturally-relevant mental health program is needed to support the needs of AA/B women. MommaConnect is novel from scientific, technical, and clinical perspectives in addressing specific barriers to accessibility, acceptability, and affordability among women with PPD, including AA/B mothers. Phase I specific aims are to: 1. Co-create the MommaConnect mHealth platform content with 6-8 AA/B women who have experiencedPPD. We will leverage focus groups with AA/B women to co-create the MommaConnect platform. 2. Evaluate feasibility of the MommaConnect platform with 30 AA/B women who have experienced PPD for12 weeks with 6 clinicians. Methods: Our SBIR Phase I will address these barriers by quickly supporting the co-creation and evaluation of the feasibility of MommaConnect, a mobile health application, which delivers a 12-week intervention to reduce PPD severity and improve the quality of mother-infant interaction, i.e., the critical mechanism that supports healthy infant development. MommaConnect integrates two established evidence-based therapies: Mother-Baby Interaction Therapy (MBI) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). IPT and MBI share an interpersonal framework that emphasizes the critical interpersonal relationship between mothers and their infants. Implications: The outcomes from this study can inform further development of an innovative model of delivery of perinatal mental health treatment for women with PPD and their infants, improve access to mental health services, reduce PPD symptoms, and promote positive infant developmental outcomes.