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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Maternal health and prenatal care

Rural Policy Implications for Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visitation Program
Summarizes the benefits of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program for rural communities and how home visiting programs can dramatically improve the lives of mothers and their children who live in at-risk communities. Discusses challenges for including rural communities in state programs and meeting the evaluation requirements; provides recommendations to address these challenges.
Date: 09/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Improving Perinatal Regionalization for Preterm Deliveries in a Medicaid Covered Population: Initial Impact of the Arkansas ANGELS Intervention
Examines the factors associated with delivery of preterm infants at neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitals in Arkansas during 2001–2006 using data from Medicaid claims and birth certificates linked to county-level demographics and medical resource characteristics. Uses county rural–urban commuting areas (RUCA codes) to determine if counties are rural, urban, or small town.
Author(s): Janet M Bronstein, Songthip Ounpraseuth, Jeffrey Jonkman, et al.
Citation: Health Services Research, 46(4), 1082-1103
Date: 08/2011
Type: Document
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Changes in Obstetrical Services Among Critical Access Hospitals
Reports trends and changes in the provision of obstetrical services in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) using data from 2000 to 2009.
Author(s): Mark Holmes, Saleema Karim, George Pink
Date: 03/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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OB Fellowship Outcomes 1992-2010: Where Do They Go, Who Stops Delivering, and Why?
Analyzes family medicine physicians who completed a fellowship in obstetrics in Tennessee. Examines where they located, career changes, and why some stopped providing maternity care. Identifies a high percentage who practiced in rural areas and spent time as faculty.
Author(s): Wm. MacMillan Rodney, Conchita Martinez, Millard Collins, et al.
Citation: Family Medicine, 42(10), 712-6
Date: 11/2010
Type: Document
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Border Lives: Health Status in the United States-Mexico Border Region
An overview of key health issues affecting U.S. residents living in the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Date: 04/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: United States-México Border Health Commission
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Trends in Perinatal and Infant Health Disparities Between Rural American Indians and Alaska Natives and Rural Whites
Describes differences over time in perinatal care, birth outcomes, and infant health between rural American Indian and Alaska Native and rural White populations by tracking hospital death rates and characteristics of the parents.
Author(s): Laura-Mae Baldwin, David C. Grossman, Elise Murowchick, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 99(4), 638-646
Date: 04/2009
Type: Document
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Malpractice Burden, Rural Location, and Discontinuation of Obstetric Care: A Study of Obstetric Providers in Michigan
Reports on a study that examined whether higher malpractice burden on obstetric providers was associated with an increased likelihood of discontinuing obstetric care and whether there were rural-urban differences in the relationship.
Author(s): Xiao Xu, Kristine A. Siefert, Peter D. Jacobson, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 25(1), 33-42
Date: 2009
Type: Document
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Poor Birth Outcome in the Rural United States: 1985-1987 to 1995-1997
Reports on rural/urban differences in poor birth outcome and inadequate prenatal care between 1985 and 1997. Examines outcomes for residents of more remote rural areas and residents of rural persistent poverty counties.
Additional links: Project Summary
Author(s): Eric H. Larson, Elise Murowchick, L. Gary Hart
Date: 02/2008
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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National Trends in the Perinatal and Infant Health of Rural American Indians (AIs) and Alaska Natives (ANs): Have the Disparities Between AI/ANs and Whites Narrowed?
Summarizes findings from a study examining trends in prenatal care receipt, low-birthweight rates, neonatal and postneonatal death rates, and cause of death among rural American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) and White populations between 1985 and 1997.
Date: 09/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Why Are Fewer Hospitals in the Delivery Business?
Examines the declining availability of hospital-based obstetric services in rural areas from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. Examines potential causes for this trend and explores the effects of medical malpractice reforms.
Author(s): Lan Zhao
Date: 04/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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