Supporting Doulas.
Strengthening
Postpartum Care.
DoulaConnect is an evidence-based dashboard designed with and for doulas to improve mental health support for mothers in rural New England.
Explore the Project
Learn more about the research, team, and how you can participate.
About the Project
Understand the problem we're addressing, our approach, and the team behind DoulaConnect.
Learn more →Meet the Team
Our interdisciplinary research team bringing together HCI, biomedical engineering, and community health.
Meet us →Get Involved
Doulas and mothers with lived experience are essential to this research. See how to participate.
Participate →Get in Touch
Have questions about the project, participation, or collaboration? We'd love to hear from you.
Research Built With Community, For Community
DoulaConnect is a doula-facing dashboard developed using participatory human-centered design to support evidence-based practices for maternal mental health in rural New England.
The Problem
Postpartum depression is the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth in the United States, contributing to nearly 23% of maternal deaths. Rural communities face even greater risk, where access to mental health specialists is severely limited and follow-up care after birth is often inconsistent or absent.
The crucial transition period after giving birth presents many challenges for continued, mental health care for women due to the high healthcare touchpoints and interaction prior to labor and delivery, followed by a steep dropoff in systemic, financial, and behavioral support. This sharp transition from intensive prenatal engagement to limited postpartum follow-up leads to missed opportunities for early detection and intervention of mood disorders.
Where Doulas Come In
Doulas are trained, non-medical professionals providing emotional, physical, and informational support around childbirth. While a typical healthcare provider spends an average of 5.75 hours with a patient, doulas spend approximately 76 hours with each client throughout the perinatal period.
That sustained relationship matters. Doula support is consistently linked to improved maternal mental health outcomes and is especially valuable in communities with limited clinical resources.
Our Approach
This project integrates a combined participatory human-centered design framework to ensure the dashboard is both technically sound and genuinely useful to the communities it serves.
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) ensures doulas and mothers with lived experience are equal partners in design and development. Their input directly shapes what gets built.
Human-Centered Design (HCD) provides a structured process for translating community needs into a functional, usable interface across five phases:
The Dashboard
DoulaConnect began as a text-message-based doula support program currently being piloted in rural New England. The next phase is building a digital dashboard that gives doulas the tools they need to manage their workflows, reduce administrative burden, and deliver evidence-based care more effectively.
Project Timeline
Geisel Community Service Learning Grant
Awarded $5000 to conduct interviews with doulas, mothers, and clinicians, and test the effectiveness of the doula-delivered text-based program for postpartum depression.
Pre-Implementation Interviews
Interviewed 20 doulas, mothers, and clinicians residing in rural New England to gather barriers to postpartum mental health care.
Sayles Student Research Grant
Awarded $2000 to supplement the pilot, randomized control trial.
Pilot Intervention
Evaluate the effectiveness of DoulaConnect by comparing mothers who receive the DoulaConnect intervention versus mothers that experience postpartum care as usual. Outcomes of interest include self-reported postpartum depression, social support, parental self-efficacy, parenting stress, and overall health outcomes.
Community-Based Participatory Research Focus Group
Focus group session with mothers and doulas to co-design the digital tool.
DIADH Accelerator
Accepted to the 2026 Dartmouth Innovations Accelerator for Healthcare and Medicine.
DoulaConnect App Testing
User interface and experience testing with doulas to evaluate the app and receive feedback.
Post-Implementation Interviews
Interviews with doulas, clinicians, mothers, and policymakers to evaluate the DoulaConnect pilot.
Publications & Presentations
This study is conducted under IRB protocol STUDY00033327 at Dartmouth College. All participation is voluntary and data is de-identified prior to analysis.
The People Behind DoulaConnect
An interdisciplinary team spanning human-computer interaction, public health, psychiatry, engineering, and clinical nursing.
Meet the Team
Emma Ricci-De Lucca, MEng
Human Computer Interaction PhD Candidate, Dartmouth College
Sai Saanvi Chilakapati, MPH
Public Health PhD Student, Washington University in St. Louis
Postpartum Doula
(To be announced)
Mom & Dad
(To be announced)
Karen L. Fortuna, PhD, LCSW
Assistant Professor of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth College
Maggie Emerson, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner & Clinical Associate Professor
Clara Guo, MD, MBA
Physician-entrepreneur and CEO of Lucid Care
Community Partners
We are grateful to the organizations supporting this research and the communities we serve.
Your Experience Shapes the Research
We are looking for doulas and mothers who have been through the postpartum period to help us build DoulaConnect. You know things we don't. That's why we want to hear from you.
Participation Opportunities
Filter opportunities
We'd love to connect with you.
It looks like there isn't a specific opportunity listed for your situation just yet — but that doesn't mean there isn't a place for you here. This project grows through relationships, and we'd genuinely love to hear how you'd like to get involved. Reach out and let's start a conversation.
Help Us Spread the Word
Sharing DoulaConnect helps us reach doulas, mothers, clinicians, and collaborators who could benefit or contribute. Every share helps grow the community behind this research — thank you for helping us get there.
Share your doula experience
Help us understand your real workflow, challenges, and use of digital tools as a doula providing postpartum mental health support. As a thank-you for the 1-hour focus group, you will receive a $20 gift card.
1-hour focus group for moms
We want to learn about your postpartum mental health experience: what support you had, what you wished you had, and how technology fits into your life. As a thank-you for the 1-hour focus group, you will receive a $20 gift card.
1-hour app demo
Help shape the DoulaConnect dashboard by testing an early version and sharing your honest feedback about what works, what doesn't, and what's missing.
Express Interest
Fill out the form below and we'll be in touch with next steps. All information is kept confidential and used only to follow up about participation opportunities. Participation is completely voluntary.