Rural Maternal Health – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Maternal Health.
A Conversation on Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities: Charting a Path to Improved Access, Quality and Outcomes
Provides a recording of a day-long forum on maternal health access in rural communities. Addresses statistics on maternal health access, disparities in access and mortality rates, healthcare quality, models of care, state and federal policies related to maternal health, and more.
Additional links: Agenda, External Summary
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Provides a recording of a day-long forum on maternal health access in rural communities. Addresses statistics on maternal health access, disparities in access and mortality rates, healthcare quality, models of care, state and federal policies related to maternal health, and more.
Additional links: Agenda, External Summary
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Rural Health Research Recap: State of Rural Women's Healthcare Utilization and Health Indicators
Summarizes rural and urban statistics describing health indicators and healthcare utilization for women, maternal and obstetric healthcare services, and maternal substance use. Includes information regarding barriers to accessing care.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder
Date: 04/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Summarizes rural and urban statistics describing health indicators and healthcare utilization for women, maternal and obstetric healthcare services, and maternal substance use. Includes information regarding barriers to accessing care.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder
Date: 04/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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HRSA Maternal Mortality Summit: Promising Global Practices to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes Technical Report
Compiles key findings from a three-day summit, Promising Global Practices to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes, that includes reports, presentations, discussion, and other resources to improve maternal health outcomes from experts in the field. Provides an overview of maternal health, morbidity, and mortality in the United States. Covers the limited access to obstetric healthcare services women living in rural areas face.
Date: 02/2019
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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Compiles key findings from a three-day summit, Promising Global Practices to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes, that includes reports, presentations, discussion, and other resources to improve maternal health outcomes from experts in the field. Provides an overview of maternal health, morbidity, and mortality in the United States. Covers the limited access to obstetric healthcare services women living in rural areas face.
Date: 02/2019
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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Access to Rural Maternity Care
Policy paper describing obstetric care for rural women in the U.S. Covers challenges to providing access to rural maternity care, such as healthcare quality, birth outcomes, workforce shortages, access, and financial challenges. Includes discussion on policy alternatives and considerations to address workforce issues, barriers to practicing obstetrics in rural areas, and increasing access to maternity care services.
Author(s): Britta Anderson, Adam Gingery, Maeve McClellan, et al.
Date: 01/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Policy paper describing obstetric care for rural women in the U.S. Covers challenges to providing access to rural maternity care, such as healthcare quality, birth outcomes, workforce shortages, access, and financial challenges. Includes discussion on policy alternatives and considerations to address workforce issues, barriers to practicing obstetrics in rural areas, and increasing access to maternity care services.
Author(s): Britta Anderson, Adam Gingery, Maeve McClellan, et al.
Date: 01/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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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
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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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
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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PubMed Search: Rural Maternal Health
Searches PubMed's collection of journal article citations on rural maternal health in the United States.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. National Library of Medicine
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Searches PubMed's collection of journal article citations on rural maternal health in the United States.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. National Library of Medicine
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Maternal And Child Health Database
Identifies state legislation addressing maternal and child health issues, including newborn screening, women's health, childhood obesity, and maternal and infant mortality, among other things. Searchable by year, state, topic or keyword.
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Identifies state legislation addressing maternal and child health issues, including newborn screening, women's health, childhood obesity, and maternal and infant mortality, among other things. Searchable by year, state, topic or keyword.
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Birthing-Friendly Hospitals and Health Systems
Interactive tool identifying hospitals and health systems that have been designated as "Birthing-Friendly" by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Interactive tool identifying hospitals and health systems that have been designated as "Birthing-Friendly" by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System
Provides information on trends and statistics regarding pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. Includes mortality rates by race/ethnicity, causes, and rural versus urban location.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Provides information on trends and statistics regarding pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. Includes mortality rates by race/ethnicity, causes, and rural versus urban location.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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March of Dimes Maternity Care Deserts Dashboard
An interactive dashboard that depicts county-level access to maternity care, with counties characterized by maternity care deserts, low access to maternity care, moderate access to maternity care, or full access to maternity care.
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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An interactive dashboard that depicts county-level access to maternity care, with counties characterized by maternity care deserts, low access to maternity care, moderate access to maternity care, or full access to maternity care.
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:
Last Updated: 2/9/2026