Catherine (Katie) Daily, DNP, CNM, FACNM, (she/her) is an Assistant Professor and the Clinical Faculty Director at Georgetown University in the Nurse-Midwifery/WHNP & WHNP Programs. Katie is the co-course coordinator for the on campus clinical intensive course labor, birth, postpartum, and newborn care. She is a bilingual Certified Nurse Midwife at Mary’s Center, a federally qualified health center, and a hospitalist midwife. Her doctoral work focused on an evaluation of telehealth group prenatal care at an FQHC in the Mid-Atlantic region. Her expertise includes inclusive teaching practices, and whole person care focused on health equity. She is an author for leading midwifery textbooks. She is a co-investigator on a community based research project focused on the postpartum experiences of Latinx/e birthing people in the DMV area. Dr. Daily is a graduate of American University (BA/Spanish language and cultural studies) and Georgetown University (BSN); Frontier Nursing University (MSN); and Georgetown University (DNP).
Project: Postpartum Well Being Among Latinx/e Birthing People in the Washington DC region
The primary goal of this research project is to examine how Latinx/e people define what it means to be healthy and well in the postpartum year. We will conduct qualitative interviews and focus groups to explore the perspectives of Latinx/e birthing people on physical, mental, and social wellbeing, socio ecological factors that influence wellbeing, and how they believe the healthcare system can best support Latinx/e birthing people in the postpartum year. The secondary goal is to identify the associations between socio ecological factors at the individual, interpersonal, community, and sociopolitical levels and Latinx/e client-defined metrics of postpartum physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Latinx/e birthing people in the United States (US) experience significant perinatal health disparities that are driven by structural, socioeconomic, racial/ ethnic, and linguistic marginalization. Between 2019 and 2022, the maternal mortality rate for Latinx/e people increased from 12.6 to 27.5 per 100,000 live births. DC currently has about 12% Latinx/e population; among Latinx/e 46% of births are paid for by Medicaid or Alliance. Latinx/e and Hispanic people experience significant barriers to high quality perinatal care that are a result of interpersonal and systemic discrimination. These experiences are present in Washington, DC (DC) where there has been historic economic disenfranchisement and underinvestment in health infrastructure in Latinx/e communities. Our long term goal is to identify the priorities of pregnant and postpartum Latinx/e people in DC for physical, mental, and social wellbeing that can inform culturally adapted interventions that improve perinatal health outcomes. The objective of this research project is to investigate how socio ecological factors impact postpartum health and wellness for Latinx/es using an exploratory sequential mixed methods design.