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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Women

Maternal and Obstetric Care Challenges in Rural America
Provides an overview of the clinical factors and social determinants of health that may increase the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality in rural communities. Discusses the impact of insurance coverage status, hospital and obstetric unit closures, and workforce shortages on rural maternal health. Describes the role of the Department of Health and Human Services in addressing maternal health outcomes. Offers policy recommendations to reduce rural maternal health disparities.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Virtually Possible: Using Telehealth to Bring Reproductive Health Care to Women with Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Maine
Describes a program implemented by a Maine family planning clinic, in which HIV counseling, contraception, and pregnancy testing and counseling were made available to women with opioid use disorder (OUD) through meetings with a community educator and through telehealth. Explores challenges in receiving OUD care in rural Maine and discusses findings.
Author(s): Terri-Ann Thompson, Katherine A. Ahrens, Leah Coplon
Citation: mHealth
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
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Health Panel Comment Letter – Maternal and Infant Health Care in Rural Communities
Offers comments in response to the CMS Maternal and Infant Health Care in Rural Communities Request for Information. Describes Medicare cost reporting challenges for obstetric services at Critical Access Hospitals and possible changes to maternal health coverage under Medicaid.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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An Initiative to Implement Immediate Postpartum Long-Acting Reversible Contraception in Rural New Mexico
Study examining 7 rural hospitals in New Mexico and their efforts to implement immediate postpartum (IPP) long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) through a program offered by the New Mexico Perinatal Collaborative. Discusses challenges to implementing the program, including reimbursement obstacles, based on interviews with 20 key staff members.
Author(s): Hannah C. Palm, James H. Degnan, Sharla D. Biefeld, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 222, S911, 1-7
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
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Increasing Mortality From Premature Coronary Artery Disease in Women in the Rural United States
Assesses rural and urban differences in premature coronary artery disease (CAD) mortality rates from 1999 to 2017 using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide‐Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) database. Includes data breakdowns by sex, age group, race, and urbanization.
Author(s): Matthias Bossard, Yllka Latifi, Matteo Fabbri, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Heart Association, 9(9)
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
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Increase in Suicide Mortality in the United States, 1999–2018
Reports on changes in suicide rates in the U.S. from 1999 through 2018. Includes 2018 age-adjusted suicide rates for men and women by county of residence for urban and rural counties.
Author(s): Holly Hedegaard, Sally C. Curtin, Margaret Warner
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Maternal Mortality: Trends in Pregnancy-Related Deaths and Federal Efforts to Reduce Them
Examines trends in pregnancy-related deaths between 2007 and 2016, Analyzes data by cause of death, racial and ethnic groups, and age. Appendix III lists ongoing Department of Health and Human Services funding opportunities to address maternal mortality, including the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program. Appendix V provides an overview of efforts to reduce maternal mortality in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, and Texas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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MACPAC Response to Senate Finance Committee Request for Information on Maternal Health
Summarizes the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) examination of the role of Medicaid in maternity care. Describes results of its analysis of Medicaid-financed maternity care and program performance, an inventory of Medicaid policies, and plans to analyze policy solutions. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Measurement of Nutrition Environments in Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, and Restaurants in the Lower Mississippi Delta
Reports on the Delta Food Outlets Study, evaluating the local nutrition environments of pregnant woman and their infants living in rural Lower Mississippi Delta to assess environmental exposures influencing their dietary habits. Study participants had previously participated in a nutrition and physical activity intervention, the Delta Health Sprouts Project.
Author(s): Jessica L. Thomson, Melissa H. Goodman, Alicia S. Landry
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
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Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Among Indigenous Women in the United States
Compares maternal mortality and morbidity rates of Native American and Alaska Native women to those of non-Hispanic White women in both rural and urban areas across the U.S. Draws from hospital discharge data from 2012 to 2015.
Author(s): Katy B. Kozhimannil, Julia D. Interrante, Alena N. Tofte, Lindsay K. Admon
Citation: Obstetrics and Gynecology, 135(2), 294-300
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
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