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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Women

Telemedicine and Pregnancy Care
Explores the role telemedicine can play in providing prenatal and postpartum care to women in rural areas. Highlights the types of specialized care that can be delivered via telemedicine to support maternal care in rural areas. Discusses some of the barriers to telemedicine implementation, including state-level Medicaid reimbursement policy.
Author(s): Gabriela Weigel, Brittni Frederiksen, Usha Ranji
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Patient and Hospital Factors Associated With Unexpected Newborn Complications Among Term Neonates in US Hospitals
Results of a study to examine the rates of severe, unexpected complications in full term newborns in 576 hospitals from January 2015 - December 2017. Explores whether rates vary significantly among hospitals and looks at risk factors and possible causes of variation. Features statistics on characteristics of mothers, hospitals, and delivery types, and median percentage of rural population in the counties where deliveries occurred.
Author(s): Mark A. Clapp, Kaitlyn E. James, Sara V. Bates
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 3(2)
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
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Are Rural Infants Benefiting from WIC Food Package Rule Changes? Breastfeeding and Infant Feeding Behaviors
Examines if 2009 revisions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) changed breastfeeding and infant feeding practices among rural and urban WIC participants. Compares breastfeeding initiation rates and the age infants were introduced to solid foods in rural and urban areas. Discusses implications for future policies to promote breastfeeding and healthy infant feeding practices.
Author(s): Ariun Ishdorj, Hongyang Di, Elfreda Samman, Lisako McKyer
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
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Rural Availability of the Obstetrician-Gynecologist Physician and Certified Nurse Midwife Workforce
Brief examining Obstetrician-Gynecologist workforce and maternal care in rural Arizona by county, discussing impacts of workforce shortages on rural mothers.
Author(s): B Koch, S Coates, S Brady, H Carter, D Derksen
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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Arizona Workforce Report: Obstetrician-Gynecologist Physicians and Certified Nurse Midwives
Reports on the availability of maternal health providers in rural Arizona, including an overview of women's health and rural maternal health disparities. Examines maternal health workforce by rural-metro designation, state and county, education, and more using Arizona Medical Board and Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners data.
Author(s): B Koch, S Coates, B Brady, et al.
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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Three Large Scale Surveys Highlight the Complexity of Cervical Cancer Under-Screening Among Women 45-65 Years of Age in the United States
Examines cervical cancer screening rates based on data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Health Center Patient Survey, and the Health Information National Trends Survey. Discusses demographics, including rural and urban location, and screening rates by age, location, education level, race and ethnicity, and insurance coverage.
Author(s): Diane M. Harper, Melissa Plegue, Kathryn M. Harmes, Masahito Jimbo, Sherri SheinfeldGorin
Citation: Preventative Medicine, 130, 105880
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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Infants Without Health Insurance: Racial/Ethnic and Rural/Urban Disparities in Infant Households' Insurance Coverage
Explores how the uneven expansion of Medicaid affects the racial/ethnic health insurance coverage for infants across rural and urban areas in the U.S. Highlights spatial patterns in health insurance coverage among infants, and examines the probability that an infant will be born without health insurance coverage using 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data and logistic regression.
Author(s): Scott R. Sanders, Michael R. Cope, Paige N. Park, Wesley Jeffery, Jorden E. Jackson
Citation: PLoS ONE, 15(1)
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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Medicaid's Role in Financing Maternity Care
Examines the characteristics of births financed by Medicaid and other payers in 2018. Describes the demographics and health status of pregnant women by insurance type, including urban versus rural residence. Provides state-by-state data on births by payer as well as the location of birth, access to prenatal care, and birth outcomes among Medicaid beneficiaries.
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Expecting More: Addressing America's Maternal and Infant Health Crisis
Provides recording and witness testimony from the U.S. House of Representatives' Joint Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions and Workforce Protections Hearing on maternal mortality and disparities in maternal and infant care. Testimony includes some discussion of maternity care in rural areas.
Additional links: Joia Crear Perry Testimony, Stacey D. Stewart Testimony, Video of Hearing
Date: 01/2020
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
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Support for Rural Practice: Female Physicians and the Life-Career Interface
Reports on the results of a survey of 20 female physicians from the same rural focused family medicine residency, over a 3-month period, to identify emerging themes regarding their experience practicing in rural areas of northwestern United States.
Author(s): Kimberly Stutzman, Ruth Ray Karpen, Pragna Naidoo, et al.
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 20(1), 5341
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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