Loral Patchen

Loral Patchen, PhD, MSN, MA, CNM, IBCLC, is Scientific Director in the Women and Children's Research Network at MedStar Health Research Institute and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. A certified nurse-midwife, clinical leader, and public health scientist, Dr. Patchen has dedicated more than 25 years to improving maternal and infant health outcomes and advancing health equity, particularly among low-income and Black communities.

Dr. Patchen has practiced at MedStar Washington Hospital Center since 1999 and has held a progression of leadership roles across women's and infants' services, including Director of Midwifery Services, Director of Advanced Practice Providers, Medical Director of the MedStar OB-GYN Center, and Vice Chair for Innovation and Community Programs in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She also serves as Medical Champion for Georgetown Law's Health Justice Alliance perinatal medical-legal partnership and is a Fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Her research focuses on reducing maternal morbidity and mortality through integrated models of perinatal care that embed behavioral health, legal, and social services into clinical practice. As leader of the women's and infants' services portfolio of Safe Babies Safe Moms, she helped build an integrated, trauma-informed model whose outcomes, published in NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery (2025), showed enrolled patients were significantly less likely to experience low birthweight, very low birthweight, and preterm birth than those receiving usual care. Her broader work spans maternal mental health, perinatal diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and remote patient monitoring, digital health, and community-engaged research to improve outcomes for birthing people and infants.

Research Interests

Dr. Patchen’s research interests include

• Maternal health equity and reduction of severe maternal morbidity and mortality
• Integrated and trauma-informed perinatal care models
• Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and remote patient monitoring
• Perinatal mental health and behavioral health integration
• Medical-legal partnerships and social drivers of health
• Perinatal diabetes education and management
• Digital and mobile health interventions
• Community-engaged research and maternal-child health
  
   

Selected Research

Safe Babies Safe Moms: Leads the women's and infants' services portfolio of this multi-year initiative to improve maternal and infant health through integrated obstetric, behavioral health, legal, and social care. Published outcomes (NEJM Catalyst, 2025) showed reductions in low birthweight, very low birthweight, and preterm birth compared with usual care.

Perinatal Medical-Legal Partnership: Helped establish a model that embeds legal services within perinatal care teams to address housing, benefits, safety, and other legal needs that shape health outcomes.

Perinatal Diabetes Education and Management: Developed and evaluated an integrated model that improves diabetes management during pregnancy and advances health equity.

Digital Health and Remote Monitoring: Leads research on mobile health technologies, remote blood pressure monitoring adapted for Black birthing people, and culturally tailored digital interventions.

1. Thomas AD, Biel M, Rethy J, et al. D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms: A Novel, Multigenerational Model to Reduce Maternal and Infant Health Disparities. NEJM Catal Innov Care Deliv. 2025;6(2).
2. Asegieme EE, Danielson AL, Tobón AL, et al; Patchen L. Safe Babies Safe Moms Perinatal Mental Health and Wellness Program: A Comprehensive Integrated Model for Prevention and Treatment. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2026;71(1):126-134.
3. Patchen L, Richardson R, McCullers A, Girard V. Integrating Lawyers Into Perinatal Care Teams to Address Unmet, Health-Harming Legal Needs. Obstet Gynecol. 2023;142(6):1310-1315.
4. Patchen L, McCullers A, Budd SG, Blumenthal HJ, Evans WD. Protocol for Evaluating Remote Patient Blood Pressure Monitoring Adapted to Black Women and Birthing Persons. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024;21(5):603.
5. Patchen L, Ellis L, Harrington CB, et al. Engaging African American Parents to Develop a Mobile Health Technology for Breastfeeding: KULEA-NET. J Hum Lact. 2020;36(3):448-460.

View complete bibliography on My NCBI / PubMed.