Shanika is third year Public Health Sciences Ph.D student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Shanika is a wife, mother, and servant leader in her community. These identities help shape the way she approaches her research which is centered around maternal child health.

Her work is focused primarily in perinatal, reproductive, and social epidemiology. She aims to develop a body or work that will be used to inform and guide health education, interventions, and policy in the prevention of maternal death amongst Black women who reside in the United States.

A mixed-methods researcher focused on improving maternal health outcomes among Black women who reside in the United States. More specifically, Shanika is currently investigating how preconception care and improved maternal health knowledge among Black women can reduce pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders such as preeclampsia, eclampsia, and HELLP syndrome. Additionally, Shanika's research interests include understanding how social determinants of health impact the reproductive health of Black women over a lifespan.

Preconception Care

Investigating how the use of preconception care (health care services received during childbearing years) can be used to improve and stabilize health for the purpose of achieving a healthy pregnancy.

Maternal Health Knowledge

At times a lack of knowledge can be the difference between life and death. Evaluating the degree of understanding of maternal health literacy amongst Black women is a integral focus of this work.

Health Equity

Every person should have the opportunity to achieve a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery. The purpose of this work is to evaluate upstream factors that affect the maternal health outcomes (poor quality health care, maternal morbidity, and sadly maternal/infant death) that are seen downstream amongst Black women.

This study will investigate how preconception care is received amongst Black women and investigate the factors that affect the maternal health outcomes of this population.

A study to validate a newly developed scale to measure the knowledge of health behaviors during the preconception period amongst Black women who reside in the U.S.

A study to understand the preconception care experience from educated Black women who began pregnancy with hypertension.

This secondary data analysis will investigate how preconception care is received amongst Black women and investigate the factors that affect the maternal health outcomes of this population. An investigation of the structural factors that impact access to such care as well as a discussion of the impact of risk factors and the social determinants of health will be included in this study.

This research will answer the following research questions:

1.What types of preconception care services are being received by Black women in the United States?

2.Are Black women who begin pregnancy with hypertension receiving preconception care?

Faculty Advisor: Michael E. Thompson, MS, DrPH

The purpose of this study is to validate a newly developed scale to measure the level of knowledge of the essential nature of specific health behaviors, prior to pregnancy, for the purpose of getting pregnant. I have developed The Preconception Care Health Knowledge Scale to assess the level of knowledge of specific health behaviors occurring during the preconception period.

This scale is being validated amongst women who identify as Black or African American, between the ages of 18-45 years old, and who reside in the US and have not had a live birth.

This study seeks to answer the following research question:

1.Is this scale a reliable and valid instrument that predicts the use of preconception care services, based on self-reported health behaviors, among US Black women at reproductive age?

UNC Charlotte IRB-23-0540

Faculty Advisor: Michael E. Thompson, MS, DrPH

A study aimed to understand the preconception care experience from college ​educated Black women who began pregnancy with hypertension. With ​pregnancy-related hypertension disorders being a leading cause of maternal ​mortality in Black women, this study aims to answer the following research ​questions:

1.How do hypertensive Black women experience preconception care services?

2.What do hypertensive Black women know about preconception care?

3.What preconception care services do hypertensive Black women receive?

Eligible participants

1) identify as Black or African American,

2) live in North Carolina,

3) became pregnant within the past 5 years,

4) began pregnancy with diagnosed high blood pressure/hypertension, and

5) is proficient in English.

If you would like to participate in this study, follow the link to complete the ​screening questionnaire: https://tinyurl.com/yke3a9db

Faculty Advisor: Michael E. Thompson, MS, DrPH.

UNC Charlotte Maternal Child Health Workgroup, Executive Member, 2022

Society for Epidemiologic Research, Member, 2022

NC Perinatal Health Collective (PHEC) - Data and Evaluation Workgroup, Member 2022

Additional Research Projects

College Educated US Black Women and Gestational Hypertensive Diagnosis, 2021

A Scoping Review of Preconception Care to Prevent Pregnancy-Related Hypertensive Disorders among Black Women in the United States

The attainment of higher education is noted as a protective factor to optimal health. However, higher education status does not offer the same protection in Black women as it does for other groups of people. This research is designed to understand the association between education and the diagnosis of gestational hypertension among Black women.

US Live Birth Certificate data 2021 from the National Vital Statistics System was used in the analysis of Black women in this study. In this preliminary cross sectional study, it was determined that obtaining a college degree is associated with increased gestational hypertension diagnosis among Black women.

The purpose of this review is to determine how Black women receive preconception care. Specifically, to investigate if Black women in the US are receiving preconception care to prevent pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders. The goal of this work is to identify the gaps of preventative care amongst Black women during reproductive years.

This review has been conducted in collaboration with UNC Charlotte Atkins Library.

Authors: Shanika Jerger Butts, MPH,

Lorenzo N. Hopper, MPH, PhD, Beth Auten, MLIS, MA

Email

sbutts4@charlotte.edu

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