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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Maternal health and prenatal care

Family Physicians in Rural America: Training, Distribution, and Scope of Practice
Webinar presented November 9, 2021, exploring training of family physicians in rural areas, family physician workforce distribution, and rural/urban differences in scope of practice. Features statistics including availability of obstetrical clinicians as of 2019, with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore locations.
Additional links: Presentation Slides, Transcript
Author(s): Lars Peterson, Davis Patterson
Date: 11/2021
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Health Disparities in Rural Women
Discusses the health disparities that exist for rural women in all categories of women's health, including obstetric and gynecologic outcomes and access to care. Covers programs to improve healthcare services for rural women and recommendations to reduce health disparities.
Date: 11/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
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County Data Highlight Links between Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome and Placement of Infants in Foster Care
Explores the relationship between neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome and the rate of children entering the foster care system. Summarizes county-level data from eight states and highlights community level factors such as maternal education, healthcare, and rurality, among others.
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Mapping the Location of Health Centers in Relation to "Maternity Care Deserts": Associations With Utilization of Women's Health Providers and Services
Explores the association between community health centers' (CHC) distance to a maternity care desert (MCD) and use of maternity-related healthcare services. Discusses the effects of rural hospital closures and provider shortages on patients' access to maternity care. Includes a county-level MCD map and county-level and CHC-level statistics related to MCDs.
Author(s): Anne R. Markus, Drishti Pillai
Citation: Medical Care, 59(10), S434-S440
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
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Following Labor and Delivery Unit Closures in Rural New Hampshire, Driving Time to the Nearest Unit Doubled
Examines the impact of the closure of 9 labor and delivery units in rural New Hampshire on the driving time to open units between 2000 and 2018. Explores the association between proximity to an open labor and delivery unit and women's health and socioeconomic characteristics.
Author(s): Stacey McMorrow, Sarah Benatar, Timothy J. Fisher
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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Birth Volume and Geographic Distribution of US Hospitals with Obstetric Services from 2010 to 2018
Examines the characteristics of hospitals with obstetric services by volume of births between 2010-2018. Describes the geographic distribution, proximity to other obstetric hospitals, and metropolitan status. Presents data on birth volume by hospital characteristics, including Critical Access Hospital and Rural Referral Center designation.
Author(s): Sara C. Handley, Molly Passarella, Heidi M. Herrick
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(10)
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
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Doulas Provide Support for Maternal and Infant Health in Rural Communities
Features a New Mexico doula program that reaches American Indian, Hispanic, and other populations who lack nearby labor/delivery units, a Minnesota program helping moms experiencing incarceration, and a North Dakota program training postpartum doulas to care for families impacted by opioid use disorder and other substance use.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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A Holistic Approach to Maternal Health in Rural Indiana
Discusses the Healthy Start Communities that C.A.R.E. (HSCC) program that utilizes family nurse practitioners (FNPs) and a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) to serve women in 4 rural counties in Indiana. Provides commentary on the program, such as reducing access barriers, utilizing bilingual healthcare practitioners, providing mental health support and trauma-informed care, and more.
Author(s): Heather M. Grable, Joanah Wischmeier, Kasia Jayjack
Date: 09/2021
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Maternal Health Learning & Innovation Center
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Restoring Access to Maternity Care in Rural America
Examines regional partnerships to build rural access to maternity care through hub-and-spoke models of education and support from urban healthcare organizations to rural maternity providers, investments in telehealth, and remote monitoring systems. Discusses barriers to maternity care access in rural areas and highlights local examples of maternal health provider networks, investments in the rural maternity workforce, and policy implications of developing rural maternity care.
Author(s): Martha Hostetter, Sarah Klein
Date: 09/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Preconception Health Disparities and Birth Outcomes among Foreign-Born and Native-Born Hispanic Women in Oklahoma
Evaluates the birth outcomes for Hispanic Oklahoma women, comparing those born in and out of the United States. Considers the mother's age, education, health insurance, and rurality. Makes recommendations to improve birth outcomes.
Date: 08/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Oklahoma State Department of Health
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