Oral Concurrent Session 9 - Quality
Oral Concurrent Sessions
Emily S. Miller, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island / Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Jacqueline Gollan, PhD
Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Evanston, Illinois, United States
Lutfiyya N. Muhammad, PhD
Associate Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Kathleen O’Sullivan, MS
Project Manager
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Evanston, Illinois, United States
Dinah Williams, N/A
Social Worker
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Malika D. Shah, MD
Associate Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Lynn M. Yee, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Siyuan Dong, MS
Senior Statistical Analyst
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Young S. Lee, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Craig F. Garfield, MD
Professor
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Evanston, Illinois, United States
The well-being of non-birthing partners supports maternal mental health, family functioning, and infant development. Nevertheless, few digital health interventions have been designed to include non-birthing parents. We evaluated the effect of Baby2Home (B2H), a digital health intervention, on mental health, relationship wellness, and self-efficacy of non-birthing parents over the first postpartum year.
Study Design:
In a randomized controlled trial enriched with dyadic participation, 642 postpartum families were assigned to B2H or usual care. B2H, a digital health tool grounded in the collaborative care model, includes co-parent communication tools, parenting education, and mental health support over the first 12 months postpartum. With birthing participant approval, partners could enroll and were assigned to the same intervention arm. Patient-reported outcomes were collected at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 12 months postpartum. Outcomes included stress (PSS), depression (PHQ9), anxiety (GAD7), global health (PROMIS-GH), relationship satisfaction (RDAS), and self-efficacy (PROMIS-SE). Linear mixed-effects models estimated between-group differences.
Results:
Among the 642 birthing participants, 324 (50.5%) partners consented to participate (B2H n=151, usual care n=173). Non-birthing participants randomized to B2H reported significantly lower stress (β –2.72, 95% CI –4.13, –1.32) compared to usual care (Figure). Depressive symptoms were lower in the B2H group, though the difference did not reach statistical significance (β –0.68, p=0.07). No significant differences were observed in anxiety (β –0.15, p=0.69), global health (β –1.26, p=0.33), relationship satisfaction (β 1.08, p=0.17), or self-efficacy (β 0.34, p=0.64).
Conclusion:
The B2H intervention significantly reduced stress among non-birthing parents, though no significant differences were observed for other patient-reported outcomes. Evidence-based digital tools such as B2H supporting non-birth partner well-being may be a pathway to improve the health of the family unit, though further refinement is needed to optimize effectiveness.