Columbia University has announced a $21 million gift from the Bezos Family Foundation to launch a research-to-practice center dedicated to prenatal care and the health of new parents and infants.

The gift will establish the Center for the Transition to Parenthood in the university’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which will bring together an interdisciplinary team to develop, test, and put into practice accessible educational tools for new parents to help reduce stress, improve social support, protect sleep, set intentions for parenting that take into account one’s own upbringing, prepare for postpartum isolation, and manage couple conflict. With a goal to reduce risk for mental health disorders in children, the center also will utilize knowledge from diverse fields to focus on the earliest influences on children’s developmental trajectories. To ensure equity and reflect the latest science, the center will engage community-based organizations, community health workers, and patients with lived experiences from diverse backgrounds.

According to the university, an estimated 30 percent of pregnant individuals report psychosocial stress, with nearly 12 percent meeting the criteria for a perinatal mental health condition, yet fewer than 50 percent of women in need of care receive it, with the rate even lower among women of color.

“We are proud to support Columbia in launching the Transition to Parenthood Center to focus on this important period of development for infants and their families,” said Bezos Family Foundation president Jackie Bezos. “Science is clear that the prenatal period is critical to the future well-being of families. With its strong team, deep roots in research, and commitment to collaborating with patients and community partners, Columbia is well positioned to advance scientific discoveries and create research-based programs and models of care to improve the health and well-being of children and their parents.”

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