Maternal and Child Health Commons^™

It’S Up To The States: The Role Of State-Based Safety Net Programs In Maternal Health Outcomes, Brooklyn Hall

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between state-based safety net programs and maternal health outcomes in the United States. Using the case studies of five states, namely Mississippi, Alabama, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California, this research examines how variations in programs such as Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Paid Family Leave (PFL) influence maternal mortality rates and overall maternal health outcomes. The analysis shows that states with more generous and comprehensive safety net programs, like California and Minnesota, tend to report lower maternal mortality rates. In contrast, states with less robust programs, such …

"It's A Dance": Examining Midwives As Choreographers Of Reproduction In Maine, Annie Goldstein

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the contemporary work of community-based Maine midwives through the theoretical framework of choreography. In the context of this work, choreography can be understood as the well-thought-out, purposeful undertaking of a process during which negotiation, coordination, and improvisation are required to adapt to constantly changing circumstances. Using choreography, this thesis attempts to understand how Maine midwives navigate global market processes and practice under authoritative forms of biomedicine, ultimately linking them to other midwives across various global sites. Situated within Maine’s maternal health landscape that is characterized by the ongoing closure of labor and delivery units and rural hospitals, …

Identifying Barriers For Community Pharmacies As Vaccines For Children (Vfc) Providers In Rural Alabama: Opportunities For Solutions, Myra Bajwa

Honors Theses

Significant Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination disparities exist between rural and urban areas in the US. A primary contributor is low access to preventive care in rural areas. Among the most promising strategies to overcome this is increasing access through offering HPV vaccination in non-traditional, convenient health settings such as pharmacies. In rural areas, community pharmacies are trusted, convenient pillars of the community. In Alabama, community pharmacies are eligible for enrollment in the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, a federally-funded program that provides free vaccines to children and adolescents under 18 years old who are uninsured, underinsured, American Indian, or Alaska …

An Analysis Of Professional Education For Future Physicians To Address Implicit Racial Bias In Black Maternal Health, Jasmine Butler

Honors Theses

The history of medicine in the United States is littered with incidences of racism and exploitation of Black Americans. The extensive history of medical racism has continued to be perpetuated in healthcare today. Within the field of maternal health, the dark history of medicine shows its face with the treatment of black mothers. Black maternal health is a current public health crisis currently being exacerbated through discrimination in the form of implicit bias. Implicit bias is a current issue in our healthcare system that needs to be addressed through adequate training of both medical students and physicians. This qualitative research …

Reproductive Justice In Mississippi: A Call For Reform And Acknowledgement, Andie Udziela

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I apply the values of the Reproductive Justice Movement to reproductive healthcare resources in Mississippi to advocate for reproductive policy reform. I begin by navigating the historic racial discrimination in gynecology and how it manifested in Mississippi. Dr Sim’s abusive experimentation on Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy depict how Anti-Black racism took root in gynecology and obstetrics and was later expanded on by the eugenic goals of white supremacy and the feminist movement through Margaret Sanger and the Mississippi Appendectomy. Then I discuss the current availability of reproductive care in Mississippi to low-income individuals to emphasize socioeconomic and …

Policy Brief: Decreasing Unintended Pregnancy Rates In Mississippi, Jaycee S. Pilcher

Honors Theses

On June 24th, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade marked a pivotal moment, eliminating the federal right to pregnancy termination. This thesis examines the challenges of restricted abortion access and emphasizes preventative strategies for unintended pregnancies. Analyzing both pre- and post-pregnancy interventions, such as enhanced sex education, hormonal contraceptives, insurance coverage, prescribers, and post-pregnancy policies, this thesis urges Mississippi residents and legislators to consider policy adjustments for reducing the occurrence of unintended pregnancies.

This research includes an analysis of literature, legislative records, and statistical data. It takes a comparative approach to evaluate the effectiveness of …

Nurses’ And Nursing Students' Knowledge Of Pregnancy-Related Complications Among African Americans, Tamija Alexander

Honors Theses

The literature highlights ethnic and racial disparities within healthcare and maternal outcomes. African American mothers have suffered from disproportionate mortality and morbidity rates compared to Caucasian women for centuries. In 2007–2016, African American and American Indian/Alaska Native women had significantly more pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 births than did Caucasians, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander women. Cardiomyopathy, thrombotic pulmonary embolism, and hypertensive disorders are the three leading causes of complications during pregnancy among African Americans. The purpose of the research study was to identify if nurses and nursing students can recognize the early and late signs and symptoms of cardiomyopathy, thrombotic pulmonary …

Perceptions Of Prenatal Care From Mississippi Mothers: The Role Of Race And Insurance Coverage, Brittney Clayborn

Honors Theses

Giving birth in America as an African American woman is a daunting and risky undertaking. African American women are three to four times more likely to die from giving birth and two times more likely to experience severe maternal morbidity than their White counterparts (Wang, Glazer, Sofaer, Balbierz, & Howell, 2020). The disparity seen in maternal health and mortality can partially be linked to other chronic health and medical factors; however, there are even disparities seen in those as well. Attention must be brought to the impact of race and socioeconomic status on the likelihood of survival after giving birth, …

Trends In Prenatal Care Accessibility In Rural Mississippi And How These Trends Affect Unfavorable Birth Outcomes, Maura Isabella Webb

Honors Theses

This thesis investigated the level of accessibility to prenatal care in rural Mississippi areas and how this affects or has affected Mississippi’s high rates of unfavorable birth outcomes. The research questions included specifically looked at how lack of prenatal care in rural areas of Mississippi plays a role, if any, in extremely high rates of unfavorable birth outcomes as well as what policy can be implemented to expand education regarding unfavorable birth outcomes. To understand the effects of accessibility and eligibility of rural women’s health care, seven women were interviewed. Interviews were conducted with these women who met the criteria …

The Long-Term Health And Developmental Impacts Of Children Born At Low Birth Weight, Kathryn Grace Kelly

Honors Theses

The state of Mississippi currently has the highest incidence of low birth weight (LBW) births in the United States. LBW is a negative birth outcome which can lead to suboptimal pediatric health and development. The primary goals of this thesis are to identify the long-term outcomes associated with LBW and to present potential interventions to address LBW. A combination of literature review and quantitative data analysis were used to inform the objective of this thesis. A variety of physical health, behavioral health, and other long-term issues were found associated with LBW. The consequences of LBW place LBW children at a …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Their Connection To Autoimmune Disease In Adulthood, Emma J. Molden

Honors Theses

Everyday in the United States, a child experiences a traumatic event. Autoimmune disease is one of the top two leading causes of death in the United States. Can these two horrifying events be connected? Autoimmune diseases currently affect millions of Americans and are considered an epidemic because of their prevalence within the adult population. Even with a high number of cases, this possible connection has been largely ignored and under researched for the history of modern medicine. However, two studies have begun to make the connection between adverse childhood experiences and how that affects the onset of autoimmune diseases in …

Fine Particulate Matter And Low Weight Births In Mexico City, Mexico, Kennedy Cohn

Honors Theses

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure has been associated with several negative health consequences, and recent studies suggest a potential relationship between PM2.5 exposure and adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight (LBW). This thesis investigated a potential relationship between fine particulate matter concentration and low birth weight in Mexico City, Mexico between 2008-2016. Maternal pollution exposure was estimated at the city-wide level by averaging PM2.5 measurements from various monitoring stations. Birth weight was collected from the SINAC database. Logistic regression models were run for different temporal scales (by trimester, and 10-month periods); however, there were no significant relationships found between …

Socioeconomic Status And Symptoms Of Anxiety And Depression In Pregnant Women, Meagan Mandabach

Honors Theses

Pregnancy is a period of great change in a woman’s body as her baby develops. During this period, women commonly experience symptoms of anxiety (Dennis et al., 2017) and depression (Shidhaye & Giri, 2014). Literature has suggested that socioeconomic status (SES) can contribute to the severity at which pregnant women experience anxiety and depression (Arora & Aeri, 2019; Field et al., 2008; Shagufta & Shams, 2019), and women of low socioeconomic status may be more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy (Field et al., 2008). The present study aimed to assess the relationships between household income …

An Examination Of The Association Between State Medicaid Perinatal Services And Birth Outcomes, Joy Morgan Myers

Honors Theses

This thesis investigated the connection between socioeconomic status, healthcare coverage, and birth outcomes. The research question that was posed specifically looked at twenty perinatal services that states covered under Medicaid to varying degrees to see their association, if any, with premature birth rates and low birthweight rates. State-level and Mississippi county-level data were compiled regarding preterm birth rates, low birthweight rates, presumptive eligibility adoption, and coverage of twenty different perinatal services. Using these data, the correlation between state Medicaid expansion status and birth outcomes was first calculated in order to determine if variation in birth outcomes was associated with expanded …

Feminism And Low Breastfeeding Rates In France, Megan Wadsworth

Honors Theses

Breastfeeding rates in France are among the lowest in high-income countries, indicating that French mothers do not breastfeed for nearly as long as is recommended by healthcare professionals and international health organizations. French government, society and conflicting feminist perspectives all influence the likelihood that mothers will breastfeed. The French government has regulations in place to protect women’s right to breastfeed in public and in the workplace, but it is unclear if these are truly beneficial for French women. French society is a seemingly inhospitable environment in which mothers do not feel safe and secure to breastfeed publicly. Motherhood and feminism …

Overcoming Barriers To The Implementation Of Early Warning Systems To Reduce The Maternal Mortality Rate In The United States Of America, Emily Hopkins

Honors Theses

The United States has the highest Maternal Mortality Rate in the developed world, and it has been increasing since 1987. To combat this problem, researchers have developed Early Warning Systems (EWS) to identify when a woman is developing signs of a life-threatening problem during the maternal period. The goal of this research is to identify if these early warning systems are being used in U.S. hospitals, and, if not, what the best way is to implement them. Several interviews were performed with hospitals across the U.S. and the transcripts were run through the analyzing software NVivo. Each transcript will be …

Breastfeeding In Public: Perceptions Of College Students In South Mississippi, Kaitlyn Sierra Kendall

Honors Theses

Breastfeeding rates have increased and declined throughout time. Perceptions of breastfeeding are mixed, with those finding it to be inappropriate and others finding it to be natural. The purpose in this study is to gain a better understanding of how college students in south Mississippi perceive breastfeeding. The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitudes Scale (IIFAS), a 17-item questionnaire aimed to explore an individual’s attitudes toward infant feeding. The Breastfeeding Behavior Questionnaire (BBQ) presented 12 scenarios of breastfeeding in public as a means to explore how participants would react to those encounters. Data was collected from 151 college students through an online …

The Relationship Between Parental Leave Policies And Infant Mortality: Global Policies, Local Practices, Jennifer Balcazar

Honors Theses

Study objective: Increased maternity leave has been shown to have a positive impact on maternal and child health, and increases the length of time that mothers breastfeed their infants. After childbirth, working women must decide if/when they will return to the workforce. These decisions are based on many factors. The purpose of this project is to determine the impact of current United States’ (US) family leave policies on Mississippi mothers’ decisions to return to work after the birth of their first child.

Study Design and Methods: A comprehensive survey was developed to collect information about mothers’ decisions to return to …

To Screen Or Not To Screen Parent’S Perceptions Of Eye Care Prevention For Pre-School Age Children, Bonnie E. Keaton

Honors Theses

One in 20 children is at risk for permanent vision loss from disorders such as amblyopia and strabismus (Why Save Sight, 2016). Despite vision disorders and childhood blindness being a common disability in children, preventative vision screenings are not at the center of prevention discussions. Studies have suggested that vision screenings for young children are beneficial in preventing permanent vision loss (Vision Screenings for Healthy Vision, 2016). Vision screenings for preschool children are important and require more attention in the United States. This descriptive study addressed parental perceptions of early detection of vision problems among preschoolers in southeast Mississippi as …