Niesha D. Darden is a clinical researcher and postpartum doula with over 13 years of experience advancing postpartum and family-centered care through both research and direct support. She serves as the lead doula and coordinator for the Postpartum Care in the NICU (PeliCaN) research program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, focusing on enhancing postpartum care, supporting perinatal mental health, strengthening breastfeeding outcomes, and improving the family experience in neonatal intensive care environments.
Niesha has contributed to grant-funded initiatives at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Temple University, advancing work in breastfeeding support, emotional wellness, family-centered NICU care, and mobile health innovation. She has co-authored peer-reviewed publications addressing maternal and infant health and helped shape interventions that support care transitions and cardiovascular risk among pregnant and postpartum populations receiving intensive clinical care. As part of the NIH-funded ECHO study, she has contributed to research on environmental influences in maternal and child health and helped develop strategies to improve participant engagement and retention.
In addition to her research roles, Niesha serves as a maternal-child health research consultant and contributes to multiple health system advisory boards. Her expertise supports care models that center families affected by opioid use disorder, NICU hospitalization, and postpartum challenges, with a focus on dignity and equitable access. She brings a unique perspective shaped by her lived experience as a mother and her academic training in Social and Behavioral Science and Health and Human Services from Temple University and Western Governors University, grounding her work in both compassion and lived insight.
