Overview
The I’M SPEAKING study aims to improve birthing experiences across Illinois by enhancing respectful care, shared decision-making, and reducing racial disparities in birth outcomes. I’M SPEAKING stands for Improving Safety, Patient Experience and Equity though Shared Decision-making Huddles in Labor.
When surveyed, some post-partum patients in Illinois — especially Black patients — report feeling unheard or uncertain about the care they received. Black patients are also more likely to experience cesarean deliveries, severe complications of childbirth, or even death. Some who faced life-threatening complications report they felt ignored by clinicians or weren’t included in decisions about their care.
Endeavor Health’s I’M SPEAKING team joined with Ariadne Labs and the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ILPQC) to implement the TeamBirth program – a program which trains hospital teams to be better listeners and to make decisions with patients rather than for patients.
Implementation of TeamBirth
Since August 2024, the I’M SPEAKING team has collaborated with Black birthing patients, doulas, doctors, and nurses to adapt TeamBirth materials to better reflect the needs of Black patients. ILPQC will implement TeamBirth using these updated materials in 22 participating hospitals across Illinois from October 2025 to October 2027.
Post-partum patients who had their babies at a TeamBirth hospital will be eligible to participate. Participants will be asked by the I’M SPEAKING team to answer questions about their birthing experience-- like whether they felt they were included in shared-decision-making. The I’M SPEAKING team will also work with hospital clinical and quality improvement teams to determine if TeamBirth improves the culture on labor and delivery floors to support vaginal birth and reduces cesarean delivery in uncomplicated pregnancies.
The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute funded this work.
Meet the team
- Ann Borders, MD, MSc, MPH
- Beth Plunkett, MD, MPH
- Emily White VanGompel, MD, MPH
- Constandina Kapogiannis, MS, RN, RNC-OB
- Claire Rittenhouse, MPH
- Mia Williams, MPH-MPA
- Verónica Castillo Le Maitre, MD
- Adriana Quintana, MPH
- Kennedy Paredes, MPH
Our partners
This clinical study is supported by these organizations.
In the news
Meet the team bios
Co- Principal Investigator
Executive Director and Obstetric Lead, Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative
Ian Bernard Horowitz Chair of Obstetrics, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Endeavor Health, Evanston Hospital
Clinical Professor, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine
Dr. Borders is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine physician and Ian Bernard Horowitz Chair of Obstetrics at Endeavor Health at Evanston Hospital (Evanston, Illinois), and Clinical Professor, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. She is the Executive Director and Obstetric Lead for the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative, a collaborative of over 100 birthing hospitals focused on improving outcomes for mothers and newborns. She is a PCORI-, CDC-, and NIH-funded researcher addressing inequities in pregnancy outcomes. She serves on the Illinois Department of Public Health Maternal Mortality Review Committee and the State Quality Council as well as an OB Co-Chair for the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives Executive Committee.
Co-Principal Investigator
Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Endeavor Health
Clinical Professor, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine
Dr. Plunkett is a Co-Principal Investigator for the Improving Safety, Patient Experience, and Equity through Shared Decision-making Huddles in Labor (I’M SPEAKING) study. She has been a practicing Maternal-Fetal Medicine subspecialist for over twenty years. Over the course of her career, she has been committed to providing high quality equitable care to all of her patients. She serves as an elected member of the Illinois Department of Public Health Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Committee and the Co-Chair of the Regional Quality Council. Her research focuses on the improvement of maternal and neonatal health outcomes. For almost ten years she served as the Principal Investigator in the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network (MFMU), a NIH-NICHD funded collaborative of sites recognized for the high quality trials they perform. She also served as Vice Chair for Reproductive Biology Research in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at now Endeavor Health and the Program Director for the Outcomes Research Network in both Reproductive Health Outcomes and Community Engagement. She previously served as Site Director for Graduate Medical Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Beth has a long-standing commitment to education, research and mentorship in the field of obstetrics and gynecology as recognized by numerous teaching awards and induction into the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators, University of Chicago. Beth has been a leader in reproductive health at the institutional, state and national level for over twenty years and looks forward to leading the important work of the I’M SPEAKING study.
Co-Investigator, Director of Evaluation
Dr. White VanGompel is a family physician by training, an anthropologist at heart, and a health services researcher. Her work focuses on improving the quality, safety and human-centeredness of perinatal healthcare. She completed a research fellowship in Quality, Safety and Comparative Effectiveness Research Training at the University of California Davis, and certification in Dissemination and Implementation Science from the University of California San Francisco. She joined the University of Illinois Chicago's Department of Family and Community Medicine in 2023, where she has continued her work as PI on the AHRQ-funded grant, "Supporting Vaginal Birth in Illinois: The Role of Unit Culture." Throughout her research career, Dr. White VanGompel has worked closely with perinatal quality collaboratives throughout the country, implementing the Labor Culture Survey as a tool for hospital quality improvement and research. She is serving as the Director of Evaluation on the “Improving Safety, Patient Experience and Equity through Shared Decision-making Huddles in Labor (I’M SPEAKING),” study to help hospitals sustain and enhance the changes they’ve made in their Promoting Vaginal Birth and Birth Equity initiatives.
Research Manager
Constandina Kapogiannis is the Research Manager for this project and based at Endeavor Health. She holds a Master of Science degree in Nursing from DePaul University in Chicago. Constandina is passionate about the health of women, infants and children. She has worked in the OB-GYN realm her entire career, having spent over 13 years providing care to high-risk obstetrics patients in the hospital setting. She championed multiple quality improvement projects that have improved inpatient care by implementing evidence-based practices. In 2021, she made the transition from the bedside to obstetrics research. She has worked on studies evaluating COVID complications in pregnant patients and their children, preventing prematurity and preterm birth through the use of progesterone or a pessary, sleep apnea and hypertension, minimizing opioid prescriptions post cesarean delivery, and hemorrhage prevention. Constandina is committed to decreasing health disparities, eliminating biases, addressing social determinants of health, and encouraging all patients to strive for their best health.
Evaluation Manager
Claire is a Research Associate II at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she focuses on improving the quality of maternal and child healthcare. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health with minors in Biology, Ethics, and Nonprofit Leadership Development from Augustana College (IL) and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Claire’s academic and professional journey has been deeply rooted in her passion for fostering the well-being of future generations. Throughout her life, she has cared deeply about the health and development of children, realizing during graduate school that supporting birthing people is the foundation of this mission. During her studies, Claire contributed to numerous research projects on maternal and child health, gaining valuable experience addressing critical issues and advancing care for birthing people and families.
Research Coordinator
Mia Elizabeth Williams (she/her) is a Research Coordinator in the OB-GYN Department at Endeavor Health. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Public Health and a Master of Public Affairs from University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health and La Follette School of Public Affairs. Her research experiences have focused on elevating qualitative research methods and community-engaged research to center those who are most impacted by health inequities.
Research Coordinator
Verónica Castillo Le Maitre (she/her) is a Research Coordinator in the OB-GYN Department at Endeavor Health. She is a pediatrician from Venezuela who recently completed her Master of Public Health at the University of Illinois Chicago as a Fulbright Scholar. Passionate about Maternal and Child Health and Global Health, her professional journey has been shaped by work with international organizations and agencies on community-driven projects supporting vulnerable populations. Her research interests focus on improving early childhood development—from conception through age eight—by implementing culturally responsive care strategies, promoting health literacy among families and caregivers, and supporting global efforts to reduce disparities in maternal and child health. She is especially driven by the belief that empowering families during the earliest years lays the foundation for lifelong health and well-being.
Research Coordinator
Adriana Quintana is a Clinical Research Coordinator II at the University of Chicago. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Public Health from Benedictine University. Adriana has a strong commitment to collaborative, culturally responsive research, informed by her experience in community-centered initiatives aimed at advancing health equity and addressing minority health and health disparities in the Chicagoland region.
Research Assistant
Kennedy Paredes (she/her) is a Research Assistant in the OB-GYN Department at Endeavor Health. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from The University of Tulsa and a Master of Public Health in Global Health Equity from Loyola University Chicago’s Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health. Her previous research experiences focused on improving health communication and reducing health disparities. Her interests include advancing health equity and health education.
