Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Women

Postpartum Health Care Use in Medicaid During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Implications for Extending Postpartum Coverage
Examines the impact of Medicaid continuous enrollment during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on postpartum healthcare utilization. Utilizes 2018-2023 claims data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) to analyze a pre-PHE versus PHE cohort of women. Includes healthcare utilization data with breakdowns according to age, race/ethnicity, eligibility group (Medicaid or other form), rural versus urban location, maternity care desert status, severe maternal morbidity and/or chronic health condition, postpartum month, and state.
Author(s): Amelia Whitman, Anupama Warrier, Sarah Gordon, et al.
Date: 01/2025
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
view details
Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative
Describes accomplishments of the Health Resources and Services Administration's initiative to strengthen, expand, and accelerate work to address maternal mortality and maternal health disparities, especially in underserved areas. Mentions rural throughout.
Date: 01/2025
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
view details
Women Veterans Health Care in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: A Report of the Task Force
Reports on the quality of and access to health care and mental health services for women veterans in Pennsylvania. Explores barriers that women veterans encounter, including eligibility requirements, military sexual trauma, lack of community support systems, and lack of childcare. Mentions rural throughout.
Additional links: Summary
Author(s): Allison Kobzowicz, Stephen J. Kramer, Caitlyn Christie, Wendy L. Baker
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
view details
Mapping Geographic Access to Illinois Birthing Hospitals, 2016–2023
Examines geographic access to birthing hospitals between 2016 to 2023 for women of reproductive age in Illinois. Includes maps showing driving times to hospitals and closed hospitals in the state, as well as changing levels of access for rural and urban women.
Author(s): Barbara C. Keino, Mechelle D. Claridy, Laurin Kasehagen, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 21
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
view details
Disparities and Gaps in Breast Cancer Screening for Women Aged 40 to 49 Years
Analyzes disparities in breast cancer screening among women aged 40 to 49 years, utilizing National Health Interview Survey data for the years 2019 and 2021. See included Figure and Table for rural-urban comparisons.
Author(s): Tianshu Gu, Jing Yuan, Shelley White-Means, Minghui Li
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 7(12), e2451827
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
view details
Maternal Mortality in Tennessee: Annual Report 2024
Findings from Tennessee's review of maternal deaths, focusing on pregnancy-related deaths from 2020-2022. Examines trends, leading causes, contributing factors, and disparities, and outlines recommendations to reduce pregnancy-related deaths and improve maternal health outcomes. Features statistics on pregnancy-related mortality rate by social drivers of health, with breakdowns by rural or urban residence.
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Tennessee Department of Health
view details
Utilization of Inpatient and Emergency Services by Rural and Urban Medicaid Enrollees
Analyzes differences in healthcare utilization among rural versus urban Medicaid enrollees. Utilizes 2019 Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) Analytic Files data to examine inpatient and emergency department (ED) use by Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes of metropolitan, large rural, small rural, and isolated rural Medicaid populations as well as Frontier and Remote Area (FAR) codes. Includes additional demographic breakdowns by age, race/ethnicity, and sex.
Author(s): Hannah Friedman, Kristie Thompson, Lily Wang, Mark Holmes
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Mammography Among Women Residing in Urban Versus Rural Utah: Breast Cancer Survival
Examines breast cancer screening and mortality among rural and urban Utahns, utilizing Utah Population Database data for breast cancer patients diagnosed from 1998 to 2017 and matched controls. Provides rural-urban comparisons of cancer stage at diagnosis, first-course treatment received, risk of death based on mammograms received in the last 3 years, and other clinical and demographic comparisons.
Author(s): Quinn Tanner, Chun-Pin Chang, Karen Curtin, et al.
Citation: Cancer Medicine, 13(24), e70505
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
view details
Trends in Gestational Weight Gain and Prepregnancy Obesity in South Carolina, 2015–2021
Examines prepregnancy and gestational weight gain in South Carolina women before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizes 2015-2021 data from 239,597 mothers with data broken down by weight gain, relative prenatal risk, lifestyle and clinic factors, and sociodemographics of patients, including rurality.
Author(s): Sarah E. Simpson, Angela M. Malek, Chun-Che Wen, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 21
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
view details
Racial and Ethnic and Rural Variations in the Use of Hybrid Prenatal Care in the US
Examines how factors of race/ethnicity, location, and telehealth restriction waivers during COVID-19 impact the uptake of hybrid prenatal care. Provides demographic breakdowns related to telehealth use of women during pregnancy and the COVID-19 public health emergency, with additional data on health conditions, U.S. region, and urban or rural residence.
Author(s): Peiyin Hung, Jiani Yu, Sayward E. Harrison, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 7(12)
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
view details