The UC San Diego Study of Outcomes in Mothers and Infants: Design and Methods of a Population-Based Research Resource to Investigate Maternal and Infant Outcomes (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED The UC San Diego Study of Outcomes in Mothers and Infants (SOMI) is a recently developed research discovery platform aiming to predict and promote healthy outcomes in birthing people, infants, and children. To create the discovery platform, an administrative cohort has been developed by linking California vital statistics records with hospital discharge records. This platform has been utilized independently to examine health outcomes, has been linked environmental datasets and residential data, and has been used to obtain and examine maternal serum and newborn blood spots. Genomic, epigenomic, prenatal and postnatal factors can be examined to understand relationships with perinatal and pediatric health outcomes. SOMI scholars have been recruited to use the data platform to advance clinical knowledge and provide important analytic experience for emerging researchers. Future projects include using the data platform to obtain additional California state data that will provide information about outpatient visits, medication use, and childhood outcomes beyond one year. The SOMI data platform allows multi-disciplinary researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders to visualize and quantify patterns of adverse maternal and child health outcomes and related disparities across California and examine trends over time.