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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Maternal health and prenatal care

Advancing Maternal Health Equity and Reducing Maternal Mortality: Proceedings of a Workshop
Reports on a workshop that examined maternal health in the U.S. in order to support communities and healthcare systems in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. Addresses maternal health inequities facing rural and tribal communities.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Bright Spots: Case Studies in Innovative Rural Healthcare
Profiles 8 rural healthcare facilities and communities that successfully addressed issues regarding access to healthcare and explores commonalities across the case studies. Describes how these initiatives optimize leadership, cultural transformation, data utilization, rural maternity care, and external partnerships.
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: A&M Rural and Community Health Institute
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Missouri Maternal-Infant Health: State and Regional Actions Impacting Care Delivery and Health Outcomes
Provides an overview of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality in Missouri. Profiles regional and state-wide efforts to address the drivers of severe maternal morbidity and mortality and improve maternal and infant health outcomes, including rural-specific projects.
Author(s): Reggi Rideout, Sue Kendig, Alison Williams
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Hospital Association
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Health Disparities Report 2021
Report examining health disparity trends based on data from America's Health Rankings reports. Offers reports by state and discusses disparities related to social and economic factors, physical environment, clinical care, behaviors, and health outcomes. Most state reports offer data comparisons by metro and non-metro residence.
Additional links: Executive Brief, State Summaries
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: United Health Foundation
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Exploring Health Center Capacity in Rural Maternity Care Deserts
Examines the capacity for health centers to provide maternal healthcare in rural maternity care deserts. Compares the performance of priority health centers (PHC) and non-PHCs and national benchmarks on the prenatal patients, the number of patients who delivered with a health center provider, the percent low birth weight babies, and the percent prenatal patients who received prenatal care in the first trimester.
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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Rural and Minority Health Research Center: Annual Report 2020
Highlights research projects in areas including healthcare access, maternal and child health, health economics and policy, cancer prevention and control, and social determinants of health. Features statistics on hospital-based obstetric units from 2002-2013 with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore locations, social determinants of health in rural areas with breakdowns by race or ethnicity, adverse child experiences exposure with breakdowns by urban or rural location, and colorectal cancer incidence trends from 2000-2016 with breakdowns by urban and rural location.
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Delaware State Health Improvement Plan: 2020 Annual Report
Assesses policy improvements and the alignment of activities among 9 key Delaware stakeholder groups with the 2018-2023 Delaware State Health Needs Assessment and State Health Improvement Plan. Includes sections on chronic disease, maternal and child health, substance use disorders, and mental health, and offers system-wide recommendations.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Delaware Health and Social Services, University of Delaware Partnership for Healthy Communities
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Maternal Mortalities and Severe Maternal Morbidity in Arizona
Provides an overview of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in Arizona as related to issues such as access to healthcare, social determinants of health, and quality of care. Utilizes 2016-2017 data to examine adverse maternal outcomes by county as well as by demographic information such as age, race/ethnicity, rural versus urban geographic location, and more.
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Department of Health Services
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Rural Resilience: The Role of Birth Centers in the United States
Highlights a study on the efficacy of the birth center model for maternity care and delivery in rural communities compared with their urban and suburban counterparts. Breaks down data by core variables, such as maternal age, maternal and infant outcomes, and transfers, among other measures.
Author(s): Diana Jolles, Susan Stapleton, Jennifer Wright, et al.
Citation: Birth, 47(4), 430–437
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
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Prevalence and Geographic Distribution of Obstetrician-Gynecologists Who Treat Medicaid Enrollees and Are Trained to Prescribe Buprenorphine
Highlights a study on the geographic distribution of Medicaid-claimant obstetrician-gynecologists trained to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder. Compares provider prevalence in rural versus urban counties.
Author(s): Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, Jennifer Culhane, Eugenia South, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 3(12), e2029043
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
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