Featured Scholar: Maria Brann, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication Studies, IU Indianapolis School of Liberal Arts
Research Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH8f6_uWspM
COVID-19 Birth Stories
In this year-long project, Professor Brann and her research partner, Professor Jennifer Bute, first conducted focus groups with women across the country who had given birth during a time when their state or local governments had issued stay-at-home orders because of the COVID pandemic. Then, they followed up a year later by interviewing the same women individually to learn more about raising a newborn during a pandemic.
The researchers found that the isolation of stay-at-home orders and changes in health care policies, such as limitations on hospital visitors and in-person appointments, had a profound effect on women. Women discussed in detail the mental health challenges they faced, such as postpartum depression and anxiety, that they felt were heightened because of the pandemic. Women also discussed the challenges of navigating who had access to visit or hold their newborn, which involved keeping their babies safe while contending with family expectations about seeing the baby. The women who participated in the study were grateful for the opportunity to connect with other women with similar experiences to know that they are not alone. They provided recommendations for helping pregnant women and new moms who are navigating motherhood in an unprecedented time, and even spoke to the media about this project so that other women would feel supported.
Professor Brann's translation of research into supportive groups for new mothers is another excellent example of how IU Indianapolis's faculty members are TRANSLATING their RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.
Selected Publications in IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks
Johnson, N. L., Brann, M., Scott, S. F., & Bute, J. J. (2024). “I’m Not Comfortable With COVID, But …”: Dilemmas and Decision-Making to Mitigate Risks Among Mothers Who Gave Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Qualitative Health Research, 34(6), 517–527. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46764
Binion, K. E., & Brann, M. (2024). Identifying communication behaviors and assessing effectiveness among interprofessional healthcare teams: A simulation study. Kentucky Journal of Communication, 42(2), 4–24. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46766
Binion, K. E., & Brann, M. (2024). “I’m not sure I’ll ever forget the experience”: A narrative analysis of Chrissy Teigen’s social media describing her miscarriage. Feminist Media Studies, 24(3), 593–608. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46767
Binion, K. E., Brann, M., & Longtin, K. J. (2024). Am I Broken?: A mixed-method analysis of an ethnotheatrical performance about women’s experiences with infertility and friendship. Arts & Health, 1–17. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/45105
Binion, K. E., Unruh, M. A., & Brann, M. (2024). “I’m not your mom, I’m your sister:” A normative approach to understand how National Panhellenic Council sorority leaders handle honest conversations. Journal of Sorority & Fraternity Life Research & Practice, 19(2), 1–20. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46765
Brann, M. (2024). Essential instructional communication concepts for effective health campaigns. Communication Education, 73(4), 427–435. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46661
Brann, M., Bute, J. J., Scott, S. F., & Johnson, N. L. (2024). Narrative Sense-Making During COVID-19: Using Stories to Understand Birth in a Global Pandemic. Health Communication, 39(3), 629–639. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46770
Buskmiller, C., Grauerholz, K., Bute, J., Brann, M., Fredenburg, M., & Refuerzo, J. S. (2023). Validation of a Brief Measure for Complicated Grief Specific to Reproductive Loss. Cureus, 15(4). https://hdl.handle.net/1805/37565
Martin, N., Brann, M., & Goering, E. (2023). Socializing employees into a culture of health. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 16(2–3), 222–237. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/46768
Honaker, S. M., Gopalkrishnan, A., Brann, M., Wiehe, S., Clark, A. A., & Chung, A. (2022). “It made all the difference”: A qualitative study of parental experiences with pediatric obstructive sleep apnea detection. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 18(8), 1921–1931. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/38636
Find more free articles by Maria Brann in IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks.