Congratulations to our obstetric (OB) anesthesiology fellow Sarah J. Kroh, MD (faculty mentor: Grace Lim, MD, MS), whose research proposal to improve patient support after traumatic birth was selected for funding through the UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital Medical Staff Fund.
Dr. Kroh’s project will be conducted with multi-disciplinary experts in psychiatry, social work, anesthesiology, and perioperative medicine: Drs. Anne Wanaselja, Patricia Dalby, and Ryan Romeo (Pitt/UPMC Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine); Drs. Priya Gopalan and Neeta Shenai (Pitt Psychiatry), and John Silipigni, LCSW (Director, Health Management, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital). The team will develop an embedded postpartum evaluation and support program for women who experienced a “Condition O” emergency team response during childbirth. They aim to use their findings to develop OB patient-centered criteria for referrals to psychiatric and social worker professionals and conduct future studies aimed to optimize patient outcomes after birth trauma.