A new research study will seek to understand how the nutrition of pregnant women impacts health outcomes for them and their babies.
Harvesting Health: Advancing Nutrition & Wellness for Moms & Babies is a collaboration between Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, the Texas A&M AgrilLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture and the city of Mansfield.
Researchers will take health assessments for each participant during multiple in-person visits, noting information including height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, body composition, blood markers and liver health. They will also ask the participants about their diet.
“We’re looking at nutrition and what moms are eating, and how does that correlate with the health of them and baby,” said Erica Bender, clinical program director from Texas A&M Agrilife IHA, at a news conference for the study Wednesday.
The use of mobile health assessment centers, or MHACs, is a key part of the study that will allow researchers to meet women where they are. The 40-foot mobile clinic is equipped with a private exam room, phlebotomy chair, air-conditioning and a restroom. Among the technology inside is a BodPod, a capsule that uses air displacement to record body composition.
Medical assistant Elizabeth Matus shows guests the BodPod inside the IHA Mobile Health Assessment Center (MHAC) vehicle July 8 in Mansfield. The pod assesses adult body composition via air displacement. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
Another piece is a Veggie Meter device that uses light to detect the carotenoids in participants’ skin. Carotenoids are pigments found in fruits and vegetables, and their presence in the body is an indicator of how much those foods are a part of someone’s diet.
Erica Bender, clinical program director at the Institute for Advancing Health through Agriculture (IHA) & Texas A&M AgriLife Research, guides guests through the Veggie Meter inside the IHA Mobile Health Assessment Center (MHAC) vehicle July 8 in Mansfield. The scanner aids research for assessing long-term dietary intake of fruit and vegetables across the lifespan. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
By random selection, half of participants will receive personalized food kits during their pregnancy and for six weeks after they give birth, allowing researchers to see the impact the healthy food has on participants’ health.
Texas has “a lot of work to do” when it comes to infant and maternal health, said Bender, a Mansfield resident who moved to Texas from upstate New York to work on the study. She noted that Texas has a “D” grade from March of Dimes, a nonprofit that supports and advocates for the health of mothers and babies.
Tarrant County’s infant mortality rate was 5.63 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024, below the state’s rate of 5.73 but above the nationwide rate of 5.53.
The maternal mortality rate among non-Hispanic Black women in Tarrant County was 59.6 for 2015-2024, more than double non-Hispanic white women rate of 22.3.
“Maternal health is public health,” Bender said. “Healthier moms create healthier families, and therefore stronger communities. That is our main goal here today, and especially with partnering with the City of Mansfield and Methodist Mansfield Medical Center to make that happen.”
In the future, researchers hope to follow participants long term — potentially through the first decade or two of the children’s lives — to learn how their time in utero impacts their long-term health and how pregnancy impacts women later on.
The study is now enrolling participants and plans to include 800 women in Phase 1. To qualify, pregnant women must be in their first trimester, be 18 to 45 years old, speak English or Spanish and have a smartphone. Participants will receive up to $725 and $25 worth of diapers.
Those interested in participating can learn more on the study’s website.
McKinnon Rice is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Her position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
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