Community Birth
Smooth Transitions: Enhancing Interprofessional Collaboration when Planned Community Births Transfer to Hospital Care
Hays K, Denmark M, Levine A, de Regt RH, Andersen HF, Weiss K J. Midwifery Womens. Health, 2022 — Journal Article View PDF Website
The cost of home birth in the United States
Anderson DA, Gilkison GM Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2021 — Journal Article View PDF Website
More journal articles are available under the Consumer Section.
COVID
The COVID-19 Pandemic: A Focusing Event to Promote Community Midwifery Policies in the United States
Monteblanco AD Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2021 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Pregnancy, Birth and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States
Davis-Floyd R, Gutschow K, Schwartz DA Med. Anthropol., 2020 — Journal Article View PDF Website
America is failing Black moms during the pandemic
North A Vox, 2020 — Website Website
Social Inequities Explain Racial Gaps in Pandemic, Studies Find
Kolata G The New York Times, 2020 — News Article Website
In Mexico, childbirth in covid’s shadow
Jarman J NY Times, 2020 — News Article Website
Climate Change and Natural Disasters
Thinking Outside of the Hospital and Nurse-Midwife Paradigms: A Qualitative Examination of Midwifery in Times of Natural Disasters
Adelle Dora Monteblanco OL Int. J. Mass Emerg. Disasters, 2019 — Journal Article Website
Research: Black women at higher risk for preterm births during heat waves than white women
Gelbard S MPR News — Website Website
Climate Change Tied to Pregnancy Risks, Affecting Black Mothers Most
Flavelle C The New York Times, 2020 — News Article Website
Increasing Temperatures Because of the Climate Change Crisis is a Reproductive Justice Issue in the United States View PDF
Structural Racism
More than culture: structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health
Viruell-Fuentes EA, Miranda PY, Abdulrahim S Soc. Sci. Med., 2012 — Journal Article View PDF Website
How structural racism works — racist policies as a root cause of U.S. racial health inequities
Bailey ZD, Feldman JM, Bassett MT N. Engl. J. Med., 2020 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Generational Impacts of 1930s Housing Discrimination and the Imperative Need for the Healthy Start Initiative to Address Imperative Need for the Healthy Start Initiative to Address Structural Racism — Journal Article View PDF
Using Index of Concentration at the extremes as indicators of structural racism to evaluate the association with preterm birth and infant mortality-California, 2011-2012
Chambers BD, Baer RJ, McLemore MR, Jelliffe-Pawlowski LL J. Urban Health, 2019 — Journal Article Website
Social and Structural Determinants of Health Inequities in Maternal Health
Crear-Perry J, Correa-de-Araujo R, Johnson TL, Mc Lemore MR, Neilson E, Wallace M Journal Article View PDF
In U.S. cities, the health effects of past housing discrimination are plain to see
Godoy M NPR, 2020 — News Article Website
Food justice is a black maternal health imperative
Oberly T, MPH, CHES, CLC Coalition Equity, 2021 — Website Website
Race, Morbidity, and Mortality
Study: Wealthiest Black moms more likely to die in childbirth than poorest white moms
Weiss H Fatherly, 2023 — Website Website
Disturbing history of negative health outcomes for Black pregnant women, study reveals
NBCNews.com NBC News, 2023 — Website Website
The lived experience of severe maternal morbidity among Black women
Canty L Nurs. Inq., 2021 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Eliminating racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality
Taylor J, Novoa C, Hamm K, Phadke S Center for American Progress, 2019 — Journal Article Website
A tale of two generations: Maternal skin color and adverse birth outcomes in Black/African American women
Slaughter-Acey JC, Brown TN, Keith VM, Dailey R, Misra DP Soc. Sci. Med., 2020 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Black Mothers Keep Dying After Giving Birth. Shalon Irving's Story Explains Why
Nina Martin P NPR, 2017 — News Article Website
Racial disparities persist in maternal morbidity, mortality and infant health
Melillo G Website Website
Racial disparities in maternal mortality
Milov-Cordoba M 2020 — Website Website
Race and Discrimination
Black patients adjust behavior to reduce chance of discrimination in health care settings, survey finds
Sciacca A, Kaiser Health News PBS NewsHour, 2023 — Website Website
“Just Because You Have Ears Doesn’t Mean You Can Hear”—Perception of Racial-Ethnic Discrimination During Childbirth
Janevic T, Piverger N, Afzal O, Howell EA Ethn. Dis., 2020 — Journal Article Website
How Police Violence Could Impact The Health Of Black Infants
Noguchi Y NPR, 2020 — News Article Website
I Was Pregnant and in Crisis. All the Doctors and Nurses Saw Was an Incompetent Black Woman
Cottom TM, Essays AO Time, 2019 — News Article Website
What’s Killing America’s Black Infants?
McClain D The Nation, 2017 — News Article Website
Racism and Inequality
Community Support Persons and Mitigating Obstetric Racism During Childbirth
Lett E, Hyacinthe MF, Davis DA, Scott KA Ann. Fam. Med., 2023 — Journal Article View PDF Website
The black American amputation epidemic
Presser L 2020 — Website Website
Understanding racial-ethnic disparities in health: sociological contributions
Williams DR, Sternthal M J. Health Soc. Behav., 2010 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Inside the fight to protect black moms and babies
Website Website
Black LGBT adults in the US
Loyal, thisisloyal.com 2021 — Website Website
THE RACE AGAINST TIME: Lived time, Time Loss, and Black Health Opportunity
Kwate NO Du Bois Rev., 2017 — Journal Article View PDF Website
The weathering hypothesis and the health of African-American women and infants: evidence and speculations
Geronimus AT Ethn. Dis., 1992 — Journal Article Website
Patient-Provider Concordance
Beyond "patient-provider race matching." Black midwives clarify a vision for race-concordant care to achieve equity in Black perinatal health: A commentary on "Do Black birthing persons prefer a Black health care provider during birth? Race concordance in birth"
Jeffers NK, Canty L, Drew M, Grayson N, Amani J, Marcelle E, Amore AD Birth, 2023 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Patient-provider race-concordance: does it matter in improving minority patients' health outcomes?
Meghani SH, Brooks JM, Gipson-Jones T, Waite R, Whitfield-Harris L, Deatrick JA Ethn. Health, 2009 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Perspectives on cultural competency and race concordance from perinatal patients and community-based doulas
Falade E, Cornely RM, Ezekwesili C, Musabeyezu J, Amutah-Onukagha N, Ferguson T, Gebel C, Peprah-Wilson S, Larson E Birth, 2022 — Journal Article Website
Physician-patient racial concordance and disparities in birthing mortality for newborns
Greenwood BN, Hardeman RR, Huang L, Sojourner A Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 2020 — Journal Article View PDF Website
The Symbolic Value and Limitations of Racial Concordance in Minority Research Engagement
Fryer CS, Passmore SR, Maietta RC, Petruzzelli J, Casper E, Brown NA, Butler 3rd J, Garza MA, Thomas SB, Quinn SC Qual. Health Res., 2016 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Patient-centered communication, ratings of care, and concordance of patient and physician race
Cooper LA, Roter DL, Johnson RL, Ford DE, Steinwachs DM, Powe NR Ann. Intern. Med., 2003 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Is physician-patient concordance associated with greater trust for women of low socioeconomic status?
Scheid TL, Smith GH Women Health, 2017 — Journal Article Website
Patient-physician racial concordance associated with improved healthcare use and lower healthcare expenditures in minority populations
Jetty A, Jabbarpour Y, Pollack J, Huerto R, Woo S, Petterson S J. Racial Ethn. Health Disparities, 2021 — Journal Article Website
Mortality rate for Black babies is cut dramatically when they’re delivered by Black doctors, researchers say
Washington Post, 2021 — News Article Website
Rural Health
Rural-Urban Differences In Severe Maternal Morbidity And Mortality In The US, 2007-15
Kozhimannil KB, Interrante JD, Henning-Smith C, Admon LK Health Aff. , 2019 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Rural Counties With Majority Black Or Indigenous Populations Suffer The Highest Rates Of Premature Death In The US
Henning-Smith CE, Hernandez AM, Hardeman RR, Ramirez MR, Kozhimannil KB Health Aff. , 2019 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Improving health among rural residents in the US
Kozhimannil KB, Henning-Smith C JAMA, 2021 — Journal Article Website
Keeping Rural Infants Alive: Combatting Structural Inequities
Kozhimannil KB Pediatrics, 2020 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Cesarean Deliveries
C-section rates are way too high. We need to hold doctors and hospitals accountable
Ledbetter A Sci. Am. — News Article Website
Cesarean deliveries are decreasing in the United States with increased midwife deliveries
Wasden SW, Bornstein E, Chervenak FA, Klein R, Grunebaum A Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM, 2021 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Evaluation of hospital cesarean delivery-related profits and rates in the United States
Sakai-Bizmark R, Ross MG, Estevez D, Bedel LEM, Marr EH, Tsugawa Y JAMA Netw. Open, 2021 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Challenging the Use of Race in the Vaginal Birth after Cesarean Section Calculator
Vyas DA, Jones DS, Meadows AR, Diouf K, Nour NM, Schantz-Dunn J Womens. Health Issues, 2019 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Birth Settings
Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Committee on Assessing Health Outcomes by Birth Settings National Academies Press (US), 2020 — Book View PDF Website
Trends and state variations in out-of-hospital births in the United States, 2004-2017
MacDorman MF, Declercq E Birth, 2019 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Factors affecting third-stage management and postpartum hemorrhage in planned midwife-led home and birth center births in the United States
Erickson EN, Bovbjerg ML, Cheyney MJ Birth, 2020 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Why black women are rejecting hospitals in search of better births
Proujansky A NY Times, 2021 — News Article Website
Giving Voice to Mothers Executive Summary View PDF
Maternal Treatment
Obstetric iatrogenesis in the United States: the spectrum of unintentional harm, disrespect, violence, and abuse
Liese KL, Davis-Floyd R, Stewart K, Cheyney M Anthropol. Med., 2021 — Journal Article Website
Physician Use of Stigmatizing Language in Patient Medical Records
Park J, Saha S, Chee B, Taylor J, Beach MC JAMA Netw Open, 2021 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Nursing textbook pulled over stereotypes Website
The Giving Voice to Mothers Study: Measuring Respectful Maternity Care in the United States [18Q]
Vedam S, Declercq ER, Monroe SM, Joseph J, Rubashkin N Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2017 — Journal Article Website
The Giving Voice to Mothers study: inequity and mistreatment during pregnancy and childbirth in the United States
Vedam S, Stoll K, Taiwo TK, Rubashkin N, Cheyney M, Strauss N, McLemore M, Cadena M, Nethery E, Rushton E, Schummers L, Declercq E, GVtM-US Steering Council Reprod. Health, 2019 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Giving Voice to Mothers in the US: Experiences of care among people of color and in community settings for birth Journal Article View PDF
Lab BP University of British Columbia, 2019 — Report
Midwifery
Improving Out Maternity Care Through Midwifery View PDF
Comparison of Midwifery and Obstetric Care in Low-Risk Hospital Births
Souter V, Nethery E, Kopas ML, Wurz H, Sitcov K, Caughey AB Obstet. Gynecol., 2019 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Inadequate Access to Midwifery Services: Results of a Secret Shopper Survey
Yager A, Director DE Journal Article View PDF
Midwife‐led continuity models versus other models of care for childbearing women
Sandall J, Soltani H, Gates S, Shennan A, Devane D Cochrane Database Syst. Rev., 2016 — Journal Article View PDF Website
2021 State of World's Midwifery Report View PDF
Mapping integration of midwives across the United States: Impact on access, equity, and outcomes
Vedam S, Stoll K, MacDorman M, Declercq E, Cramer R, Cheyney M, Fisher T, Butt E, Yang YT, Powell Kennedy H PLoS One, 2018 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Reduced prevalence of small-for-gestational-age and preterm birth for women of low socioeconomic position: a population-based cohort study comparing antenatal midwifery and physician models of care
McRae DN, Janssen PA, Vedam S, Mayhew M, Mpofu D, Teucher U, Muhajarine N BMJ Open, 2018 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Postpartum
Destigmatizing and Democratizing Postpartum Care: A “Black Woman-Person First” Approach
Scott Dana-Ain Davis K Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2022 — Journal Article View PDF Website
The enduring impact of birth: Women's birth perceptions, postpartum depressive symptoms, and postpartum depression risk
Johnson KM, Thai A, Kington S Birth, 2022 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Patient-Centered Care
Patient-centered access to health care: conceptualising access at the interface of health systems and populations
Levesque JF, Harris MF, Russell G Int. J. Equity Health, 2013 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Promoting inclusive and person-centered care: Starting with birth
Snowden JM, Guise JM, Kozhimannil KB Birth, 2018 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Medicaid
Life-threatening birth experiences among Medicaid enrollees vary widely by state and race-ethnicity
Mostafavi B Website Website
Strong start for mothers and newborns initiative national report Website Website
Medicaid Expansion Led To Reductions In Postpartum Hospitalizations
Steenland MW, Wherry LR Health Aff. , 2023 — Journal Article View PDF Website
International Maternal Health
"I fought my entire way": Experiences of declining maternity care services in British Columbia
Niles PM, Stoll K, Wang JJ, Black S, Vedam S PLoS One, 2021 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Maternal mortality and maternity care in the United States compared to 10 other developed countries
Tikkanen R, Gunja MZ, FitzGerald M, Zephyrin L Commonwealth Fund, 2020 — Miscellaneous Website
Managing Labor and Delivery among Impoverished Populations in Mexico: Cervical Examinations as Bureaucratic Practice
Smith-Oka V Am. Anthropol., 2013 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Family and Maternal Leave
How does paid family leave affect unpaid care providers?
Saad-Lessler J The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 2020 — Journal Article Website
Paid Maternity Leave Saves Lives
Bloomberg, 2021— Website Website
Miscellaneous
Blueprint for Advancing High-Value Maternity Care Through Physiologic Childbearing
Avery MD, Bell AD, Bingham D, Corry MP, Delbanco SF, Gullo SL, Ivory CH, Jennings JC, Kennedy HP, Kozhimannil KB, Leeman L, Lothian JA, Miller HD, Ogburn T, Romano A, Sakala C, Shah NT J. Perinat. Educ., 2018 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Association of Summer Heat Waves and the Probability of Preterm Birth in Minnesota: An Exploration of the Intersection of Race and Education
Smith ML, Hardeman RR Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2020 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Preconception health risks among U.S. women: Disparities at the intersection of disability and race or ethnicity
Horner-Johnson W, Akobirshoev I, Amutah-Onukagha NN, Slaughter-Acey JC, Mitra M Womens. Health Issues, 2020 — Journal Article Website
Help save Haitian women and babies in NYC
The Haitian Times 2020 — Website Website
Indigenous 'helpers' combat high maternal mortality rates
PBS NewsHour, 2020 — Video or Film Website
To prevent women from dying in childbirth, first stop blaming them
McLemore MR Sci. Am., 2019 — News Article Website
The political context and infant health in the United States
Torche F, Rauf T Am. Sociol. Rev., 2021 — Journal Article Website ▶
Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators
McEwen BS N. Engl. J. Med., 1998 — Journal Article View PDF Website
Firearm Relinquishment Laws Associated With Substantial Reduction In Homicide Of Pregnant And Postpartum Women
Wallace ME, Vilda D, Theall KP, Stoecker C Health Aff. , 2021 — Journal Article Website
US maternal mortality is more than 10 times higher than in Australia. Why?
Donegan M The Guardian, 2023 — News Article Website