Maternal & Child Health

Designed to improve the health and psychosocial outcomes of at-risk mothers by providing community linkage and social support and improving engagement with prenatal and postpartum care. Classes are offered in childbirth education, breastfeeding, bringing baby home, and safe sleep.

Provides peer and expert support to pregnant individuals to promote maternal health, newborn preparedness, and maternal well-being. Team members provide health screenings, family planning and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention services, education, and connections to continuing health care. The program began connecting with community members and hosting outreach events in 2023. In 2024, the program obtained its Article 28 credential and became fully operational, delivering care across Brooklyn and Queens. During clinical days, many patients were connected with Ob/Gyn services through NewYork-Presbyterian clinics.

Promotes healthy early childhood development, positive parenting, and maternal health to give children the best chance of long-term social, academic, and economic success—providing care based on psychosocial, developmental, and psychiatric needs. The program established integrated visits where a HealthySteps Specialist joins in the room during a well visit to meet families and offer guidance on early childhood behavior and development. Use of an iPad to have the specialist present virtually at a visit made families more likely to keep their appointments.

Promotes early literacy, a love for reading, and family bonding through reading aloud by integrating books and guidance into pediatric care, particularly for families in underserved communities. Every child age 0-5 receives a book during well-child visits. ROR expanded waiting room reading to two clinics in 2024, with plans to launch reading at a third clinic in January 2025.

A multi-sector collective impact initiative designed to equip families with young children (ages 0-5) with the knowledge, resources, and self-agency needed to support their children’s lifelong health and well-being. This collaboration involves NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University, Literacy Inc., and over 25 local organizations in Northern Manhattan. The work of UMECC is guided by the voices of caregivers with lived experience in the community and by child-facing organizations who have a longstanding history of serving this population. Areas of focus of the collaborative are jointly decided by these groups and supported by publicly available population data.

• UMECC engaged in conversations with parents, caregivers, service providers, and staff from community-based organizations (CBOs) in 2023, leading to the creation of a Parent/Caregiver Advisory Group (26 members) and a CBO Working Group (28 organizations)
• UMECC surveyed 200+ caregivers in 2023 to identify top priorities: early intervention, childcare, and food insecurity
• Hired Early Intervention Ambassador in 2024
• Launched Early Childhood Resource Navigation Center in 2024
• Served 27 families in 2024

Just in Time: A Doula Shares a Story

I reached out to my patient, a first-time mother, two days after she was discharged from the hospital after giving birth. She voiced concerns about pain in one side of her lower abdomen and being too tired to care for her new infant. I noticed her breathing was very labored. I immediately reached out to our program manager, who put me in contact with the clinical lead, who said the patient should come to the hospital's emergency room right away. Her care team admitted her directly to the ICU, and she ultimately had several cardiac procedures. After 2 weeks, she was discharged and reunited with her newborn. The next morning, the doctor told me the patient had been in congestive heart failure and would not have survived the night if she hadn’t sought medical attention. What could have been a terrible tragedy was avoided by simply having others on the care team check in with the patient. The doula care this program provides can literally be lifesaving.