Maternal health during and immediately after pregnancy is strongly correlated with access to and quality of prenatal medical care; nutrition; and food security. RAND's research on maternal health throughout the world includes studies of prenatal obstetric care for low-income women, the effects of public assistance on birth outcomes, maternal and infant mortality, family planning and birth spacing, prenatal substance use, and maternal mental health.
Report
Simultaneous developmental delays among young children and depression among parents can create serious challenges for many families. However, results from the Helping Families Raise Healthy Children initiative suggest that aligning early intervention and behavioral health systems can help.
Research Brief
The Helping Families Raise Healthy Children initiative addressed depression among parents of children with early childhood developmental delays, aligning the early intervention and behavioral health systems with a focus on relationship-based care.
Tool
Many families experience the challenges of caregiver depression and early childhood developmental delays. Although services and supports across systems could help caregivers to deal with such issues at the family level, numerous obstacles prevent adequate screening and identification, referral, and service delivery.
Journal Article
The shorter the IPI following a miscarriage, the more likely the subsequent pregnancy is to result in a live birth.
Journal Article
Adolescent children of mothers with HIV face a host of stressors that place them at increased risk for poor outcomes.
Journal Article
The burden of maternal and infant deaths falls disproportionately on low income countries (LICs) and lower middle income countries (LMCs1) and among the poorest within these countries.
Journal Article
Mothers who perceive that their child's father is supportive are less likely to have mental health problems 5 years after birth; married mothers report the highest levels of supportiveness.
Journal Article
Since most poor women deliver at home in developing countries, efforts to reduce maternal deaths should prioritize community-based interventions aimed at making home births safer.
Journal Article
Clinic violence reduces abortion services in targeted areas; however, once travel is taken into account, the overall effect of the violence is much smaller.
Journal Article
Family environment—including parenting quality—is an important factor in influencing children's leisure activities, and thus interventions for child obesity may be more successful if they focus on family environment and its effect on children's active and sedentary behaviors.
Research Brief
Researchers analyzed data on child and maternal health care use from 34 sub-Saharan African countries to examine the association between the degree of private sector participation in the health care system and outcomes related to access and equity.
Journal Article
This study used data from 3 sites to examine the invariance and psychometric characteristics of the Brief Symptom Inventory –18 across Black, Hispanic, and White mothers of 5th graders. Results showed that the instrument may be used for mean comparisons between Black and White women.
Journal Article
This community-based collaborative project tested evidence-based approaches for improving the quality of care for mothers and their children in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
Research Brief
California's Paid Family Leave Insurance program, the first of its kind, has not increased the percentage of parents who took leave to care for a sick child. Fewer than 15 percent of parents who were qualified for the program knew about it.
Journal Article
Ensuring high quality intrapartum care in developing countries is a crucial component of efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity.
Journal Article
Sexual behavior among adolescents with HIV-positive mothers was less prevalent than among other adolescents, but was more likely to occur with adolescent alcohol use, lack of parental monitoring, and poorer physical functioning of HIV-positive mothers.
Journal Article
The participation of the private sector in providing health care in developing countries is associated with greater access to care and reduced disparities between rich and poor and urban and rural populations.
Journal Article
Youths felt uncomfortable discussing HIV with their parent who has HIV because they worried about upsetting and reminding the parent of his/her illness. Adult children reported learning about HIV prevention by watching how the illness affected their parents. Few siblings reported talking with one another about HIV because they worried about upsetting their brother/sister and about their sibling unintentionally disclosing the parent's illness to others.
Journal Article
Explores women's perceptions of "choice" of place of delivery in remote and rural areas where different models of maternity services are available.
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