The ROOT Study
A study at Novant Health Triad OB/GYN, Winston-Salem, NC

Nutrition care added to your pregnancy care.

The ROOT Study is enrolling 500 pregnant patients at Novant Health Triad OB/GYN in Winston-Salem. You keep the OB care you already have and add personalized nutrition support from the GrowBaby team through the GrowHealth platform. The ROOT Study is provided at no cost to you.

You may be eligible if you are:

  • less than 20 weeks pregnant
  • 18 or older
  • insured
  • own a smartphone
  • English- or Spanish-speaking
GrowBaby Novant Health AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina

The ROOT Study: Scaling the GrowBaby ‘Standard of Care Plus’ OB-Nutrition integrated model to optimize maternal and infant health. Supported by the Novant Health Foundation through a community investment from AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina.

Could the ROOT Study be for you?

Check every box that is true for you.

All seven checked? You can join.

Support from the day you sign up through 6 weeks after your baby is born. Joining is free, and your OB care stays exactly the same.

If all seven are true for you, ask the front desk for a study nurse (RN) at this visit or the next!

What you get

  • FREE4 visits with a nutritionist who builds a plan around you and the food you like.
  • FREE2 more visits to go over your lab results.
  • FREENEEDED. Supplements for your whole pregnancy.
  • FREEGrowHealth app — your plan lives on your phone.
  • FREEMessage your nutritionist any time, day or night.

What you do

  • A little extra blood drawn for nutrition lab panels in addition to prenatal labs.
  • IF YOU WANTA gene and nutrition test. It shows how your body uses certain nutrients. What you learn is yours for life.
  • IF YOU WANTLet us follow your child's health to age 5. No tests, no treatments — we only watch how they grow.

You can say no to either one and still be in the study.

About the study

The ROOT Study (Resilient Outcomes through OB-Nutrition Team-care) is a study at Novant Health Triad OB/GYN in Winston-Salem, NC, evaluating whether the GrowBaby "Standard of Care Plus" model — structured nutrition assessment, targeted laboratory and nutrigenetic testing, and individualized supplementation delivered alongside standard obstetric care — is associated with improved maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Participants consent before 20 weeks gestation and are followed through 6 weeks postpartum. Measured outcomes include preterm birth, gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, birth weight for gestational age, and NICU admission. Participants may separately consent to a five-year pediatric follow-up tracking atopic dermatitis, food allergy, asthma, infant antibiotic exposure, and developmental outcomes.

Supported by the Novant Health Foundation through a community investment from AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina.

Enrollment
Fall 2026 – Fall 2028
Site
Novant Health Triad OB/GYNWinston-Salem, NC
Registration
NCT07559773Protocol #25-3025

Study team

Co-Principal Investigators
Leslie Stone, MD  ·  Lewis Lipscomb, MD
Co-Investigators
Emily Stone Rydbom, MDH, BCHN  ·  Chris Magryta, MD
OB Providers
Jully Aguirre, MD
Stefanie Bates, CNM
Danielle Krites, DNP, APRN, FNP-C
Alexis Simon, MD
Jeffrey Williams, DO
Nursing Team
Melinda Vestal, BSN, RN
Gretchen Edge, BSN, RN
Ashleigh Shoaf, BSN, RN
View study protocol on ClinicalTrials.gov

Measuring what matters, from delivery to age five.

The ROOT Study tracks outcomes across three tiers from pregnancy through early childhood.

Primary outcome

  • Preterm birth (PTB)

Secondary outcomes

  • Small for gestational age (SGA) infants
  • Large for gestational age (LGA) infants
  • Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)
  • Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP)
  • NICU admissions within the first 2 weeks of birth

Exploratory outcomes

  • Atopic dermatitis and eczema at 1, 3, and 5 years of age
  • Asthma and allergy at 1, 3, and 5 years of age
  • Otitis media and rates of recurrence at 1, 3, and 5 years of age
  • Obesity at 1, 3, and 5 years of age
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder at 1, 3, and 5 years of age

Also tracked

Compliance

Patient engagement and adherence to personalized nutrition and lifestyle recommendations across pregnancy and postpartum

Comparative Effectiveness

Virtual PLUS model vs. standard of care (SOC), evaluating access, user compliance and engagement, and maternal/neonatal outcomes

Cost Efficiency

Healthcare utilization and reimbursement associated with ICD-10-coded outcomes across the perinatal period and through the first 5 years of life

"This represents one of the first systematic longitudinal analyses of prenatal nutrition's impact on childhood health outcomes."

Chris Magryta, MD

Study partners

Supplement partner

Needed® was selected as the ROOT Study’s primary supplementation partner. All participating mothers will receive Needed’s comprehensive, evidence-based prenatal nutrient support anchored by a high-quality Prenatal Multivitamin along with Omega-3s, iron, collagen, and a pre/probiotic. Additional targeted supplementation (including vitamin D3/K2 and choline) from Needed® may be incorporated based on each mother’s specific needs, dietary intake, and laboratory findings.

Technology partner

GrowHealth is the digital platform the ROOT Study runs on. Each participant’s intake, laboratory results, and nutrigenomic data build a personalized care plan spanning meal planning, supplementation, movement, relaxation, and sleep — generated by the platform and validated by her nutritionist before it reaches her. Participants access their plan on their phone, book appointments, message their nutritionist directly, and track daily progress, with plans adapting as the pregnancy progresses.

Nutrigenetic testing

Nutrigenomic panel (42 genes across 72 SNPs in 15 key biological areas) used to inform individualized nutrition and lifestyle recommendations throughout pregnancy.

Omega-3 Index

Omega-3 Index by dried blood spot, collected for observation and research only.

Microbiome testing

Vaginal microbiome analysis for 100 eligible participants collected <16 weeks.

Targeted supplementation

Additional micronutrient support (acetyl L-carnitine, myo-inositol) may be utilized in select cases based on metabolic or clinical presentation.

Research nonprofit  ·  501(c)(3)

GrowBaby’s affiliated research nonprofit and a 1% for the Planet environmental partner. The GrowBaby Life Project supports the ROOT Study by enabling research validation while advancing both the integration of environmental mediators into clinical evaluation within the GrowBaby model and broader awareness of their impact on maternal health outcomes.

The research behind the model

The ROOT Study builds on more than fifteen years of clinical application and published research on the GrowBaby model.