Paula Alio
University of Rochester, NY·Public Health & Epidemiology
Deaths and life-threatening complications linked to pregnancy are rising in the United States, and the gap between Black and white women is widening. In Rochester, New York, which has the state's highest rates of Black maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity (MM/SMM), Black women are two to three times more likely to die or suffer severe complications.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Social Science
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
maternal mortality
severe maternal morbidity
maternal health disparities
- Grants
- 1 known grant, last ended Aug 2026
What they work on
- Explore Black fathers' group and individual experiences with perinatal care in Rochester, New York, through listening sessions with 40 fathers and interviews with 20 fathers.
- Merge fathers' listening-session data with existing data from 44 Black women in a group dyadic analysis guided by the socio-ecological model, to describe couples' shared perinatal care experiences.
- Compare themes from group listening sessions with themes from individual interviews to assess how the two qualitative methods shape what Black fathers report.
More about the research
Earlier listening sessions with 44 Black women in Rochester, led by the team through a community consortium, found that mothers saw support from partners and fathers as an important influence on their care. Fathers' emotional, physical and financial support has been linked to better birth outcomes. Yet little is known about how fathers might help reduce MM/SMM.
Why it matters
Black mothers and birthing people in Rochester and their families could benefit if this work identifies specific parts of perinatal care to change. Learning how fathers and partners act as advocates may help local programs, clinicians and the community consortium design more equitable care and reduce maternal deaths and severe pregnancy complications.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Stacy Bartlett
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Evaluate current postpartum care models, including Fourth Trimester Care (4TM) with its two-week first visit, using quantitative electronic health record data from local health care sites.
Kyrah Brown
University of Texas at Arlington, TX·Public Health & Epidemiology
Build a qualitative system dynamics model of the interconnected clinical and social factors that produce severe maternal morbidity among Black women, using group model building with patients, doulas, clinicians and community stakeholders.
Jacquelyn Taylor
Columbia University, NY·Public Health & Epidemiology
Test a doula-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy program for postpartum people in a Type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial, measuring cardiovascular, mental health and social-determinant outcomes while building trauma-informed service models and hospital-community care linkages.
The school
University of Rochester: 38 labs on PI Pages, $492M a year on research, 308 research doctorates a year.
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