Tech Tuesday: Elise Erickson works to improve maternal care, mitigating postpartum blood loss

University of Arizona researchers in collaboration with researchers at the University of Virginia have developed a test that uses blood or saliva to assess the risk of postpartum hemorrhage and potential responsiveness to oxytocin (see UA24-306, this invention’s technology identification on the TLA Inventions website).

Postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, affecting around 14 million women each year globally. Hemorrhage occurs when the placenta embedded in the uterine wall is expelled during the birthing process, which can cause heavy bleeding if the uterus does not contract quickly. According to Dr. Elise Erickson, assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing and co-inventor of the test, oxytocin is also commonly used to stop postpartum bleeding but may not be as effective for some people due to genetic and epigenetic factors.

Erickson said that the invention can help determine an individual’s sensitivity to oxytocin, removing some of the time wasted on the trial and error of maternal care and allowing care providers to develop more personalized strategies for their patients. She has spent much of her research career studying oxytocin function, the use of oxytocin during the birth process, and individual responses to exogenous oxytocin, such as oxytocin that’s injected into the body or inhaled via a nasal spray. 

“Most people in obstetrics are thinking about oxytocin as a medication for the uterus,” Erickson said. “Through my research, I came to appreciate a much wider perspective of oxytocin function, including how it may be affected by intrinsic factors or have the potential for postpartum effects.”

Erickson, a certified nurse midwife of 19 years, was inspired to study nursing and midwifery when she took a class on Women’s Health as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. According to Erickson, the class, taught by nurse-midwife researcher Lisa Kane-Low, focused on the intersections of women’s health, politics, philosophy and health outcomes. 

 “As a 20-year-old, I had had very little exposure to any of these topics, and it expanded my thinking about these things that were so intimately important to my future as a female, as well as everyone else who is a female,” she said. “I was inspired to take this academic route, but I also really loved providing care during birth and being a midwife and [I] still do that.” 

Erickson was hired at the U of A in 2022 and runs the Mechanisms Underpinning Maternal Health Lab. She wanted to explore the collaborative opportunities that come with working for a large research institution. 

“People from all over the world are coming to be a part of something and to pursue their own goals and that’s just a very rich and fertile environment for taking new directions and finding collaborators,” she said. “For example, I have been able to collaborate with U of A data scientists and they help drive a lot of the data analytics we’re doing on another project about birth physiology. Had I not been here, I don’t know that those connections would have been as easy [to make].”

She hopes that the work done in the lab will positively impact the field of maternal health. According to Erickson, this broad field of study includes genetic and molecular science, methods of delivery and systems involved in maternal healthcare. 

To describe the current state of maternal care, Erickson said, “It’s been said that if a pregnant woman is like a piece of candy, and the inside is the candy or baby and outside is the wrapper, we care an awful lot about the candy but then we just throw the wrapper away,” Erickson said. “I think having a fundamental shift in the focus to the wrapper … really requires rethinking the way we deliver care.”