Hill

Drs. Ashley Hill, Martina Anto-Ocrah, and their team reviewed studies examining associations between characteristics of Black fathers and adverse pregnancy outcomes in the United States. This review identified six research studies demonstrating Black fathers’ significant association with preterm birth outcomes, but also finding an inverse impact on preeclampsia and gestational hypertension.

Sex education legislation follows a hierarchy, where federal legislation takes precedent over any state legislation, and it continues down the chain. At the state level, only 3 states require comprehensive sex education (CSE); and 1 requires CSE but upon further examination, this policy does not align with national standards.

Black pregnant women encounter structural racism and intersectional bias from healthcare providers. By centering their perspectives and experiences of racial discrimination in healthcare settings, public health and medical professionals can utilize anti-racist frameworks to create more equitable, just practices in reproductive healthcare.

Read more about Drs. Ashley Hill and Natacha De Genna's findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38106375/

Drs. Ashley Hill, Natacha De Genna, and their team found that young Black women who desired pregnancy and birthing support during Covid-19 encountered structural racism and intersectional bias from healthcare providers. 

Read more about their research findings here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321523001178?via%3Dihub

Dr. Ashley Hill and her team developed an empowerment-intersectional framework for sexual health and substance use prevention programming to address gendered racism against Black girls.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37166152/

Drs. Ashley Hill and Natacha De Genna qualitatively examined coping mechanisms and desired supports in pregnant and birthing Black and biracial adolescent and young adult women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their team found that nearly half the interviewees reported mental health symptoms consistent with postpartum depression and that several were afraid to disclose their symptoms to a healthcare provider due to fear of child protective services involvement and their belief they would be treated unfairly because of their race. 

Dr. Ashley Hill and her team examined literature on measures of racial discrimination used in preterm birth research and found that assessment methods and application of constructs varied. This synthesis shows significant challenges to understanding associations between racial discrimination and preterm birth, which ultimately hinders development of effective intervention.
 

Join CONVERGE and Pitt's Health Science faculty members for Moving Research into Practice: Inclusive Prevention Strategies.