Empower Research Lab

Empower Research Lab

Maternal Mental Health

Enhancing postpartum depression care using mobile technology, wearables, and user-centered design to improve early diagnosis and treatment.

Description

Postpartum depression (PPD) is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the United States. However, there are significant gaps in PPD screening, detection, and treatment. A main challenge stems from limitations in existing methods for early PPD diagnosis and subsequent monitoring and intervention. Mobile technology that incorporates interactive interfaces and continuous wearable biosensors holds major potential to augment clinical decision-making and enhance PPD care. A number of compelling research directions exist in effectively developing such systems, including user experience design, sensing accuracy during perinatal stages, clinical integration and interoperability, acceptance and adoption, and privacy and ethics. By focusing on wearable devices that center women and their experiences, my project addresses such challenges and opportunities at the intersections of Human Computer Interaction, inclusive physiological computing, and women’s health. Currently recruiting research assistants to help with: participant recruitment and coordination, digital engagement strategy, needs-finding, qualitative interviewing and analysis.

Publications

Wearable Biosensors for Early Detection and Continuous Monitoring of Postpartum Depression: A Human-Centered Approach

**Emma Ricci-De Lucca**, **Elizabeth L. Murnane**

wearable devices

maternal mental health

pregnant and postpartum

Date

2023 - Present

Keywords

mental health

patients

clinical

ethnography

co-design

needfinding

qualitative analysis

interviews

wearables

mobile health application

D-Pine
Murnane Research Group at Dartmouth College | Contact: empowerlab@dartmouth.edu | Last updated: March 2025
Thayer School of Engineering