The first year after childbirth can be affected by persistent or new-onset maternal health problems related to pregnancy and childbirth, leading to a reduction in quality of life, maternal well-being, and mother-child bonding. Evidence on determinants of health care utilization among postpartum women is limited by generalizability or the focus on 6 weeks postpartum. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of maternal health problems and health care utilization and to identify the determinants of health care utilization among postpartum women in the Netherlands within the first year after childbirth.

There is very limited information on the rates of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms for perinatal individuals who live in rural settings. Increasing understanding of traumatic experiences among rural-dwelling pregnant individuals may be an important avenue through which midwives can help address the care disparities and poor outcomes in this population. This study aimed to implement screening and estimate prevalence rates of trauma exposure and perinatal PTSD symptoms among individuals at a Midwestern rural obstetric clinic.

Approximately 161 million women worldwide use intrauterine devices (IUDs), but insertion can cause pain and anxiety. This study examined the effects of virtual reality (nature video and music) and distraction cards on pain, anxiety, and satisfaction during IUD insertion.

The Guatemalan Ministry of Health has offered traditional midwives (TMs) training programs in Spanish since 1955. Many Guatemalan TMs speak indigenous dialects, with limited reading and writing skills, and may not fully comprehend this information. Additionally, TMs have previously requested instruction on how to measure blood pressure in order to improve outcomes for women developing preeclampsia. Prompt diagnosis of preeclampsia would enable TMs to make more timely decisions for transport to a hospital. The purpose of this quality improvement project therefore was to develop culturally sensitive oral educational activities in the native language of participants to improve their knowledge of preeclampsia and improve their skills in assessing blood pressure.

Mental health conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of interprofessional simulation for postpartum depression management.

Psychological birth trauma affects a significant proportion of birthing individuals globally, with estimates ranging from 18% to 45% perceiving their birth as traumatic and 4% being diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. Despite growing recognition of birth trauma, the lived experience of healing from it remains understudied.

The Safe Babies Safe Moms Women's and Infants' Services Perinatal Mental Health and Wellness Program offers screening, assessment, prevention, and treatment options, as well as referrals, for complex care needs using an integrated collaborative care framework. Group and individual therapy options are available, leveraging both office-based and telehealth options. The article details the program's framework for services, describes the care team and program workflow, and summarizes program activities. In calendar year 2024, 3383 screenings using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale were completed for 1914 unique patients. Perinatal social workers conducted 1328 care coordination visits and completed 148 perinatal mental health assessments for elevated screenings. Integrated therapeutic services reached 220 people, and 53 were referred to psychiatry for complex care needs. The strengths of this program stem from early initiation of screening, multiple screenings throughout the perinatal period, care coordination for social services interventions, and a shared-decision-making process centered around the patients' needs and goals for perinatal mental health care. This integrated mental health model establishes a distinct, well-defined, yet dynamic pathway to provide screening, care coordination, and interventions for both prevention and treatment to optimize perinatal mental health outcomes. Evaluation of program outcomes is ongoing.

Evidence is growing to support why a racially diverse midwifery workforce is needed; however, very few studies have examined how this should occur. Specifically, little research has examined the lived experiences of Black and Indigenous stakeholders in midwifery education, whose experiences and insight should serve as a cornerstone to re-envision education structures.

More than 80,000 US military servicewomen are stationed in states enforcing abortion bans. US Department of Defense (DOD) policies must adhere to the Hyde Amendment, which restricts abortion coverage. Little research exists regarding active-duty servicewomen's (ADSW) knowledge of these policies or their experiences accessing abortion care. This study examines the reproductive health policy knowledge and lived experiences of ADSW who have accessed abortion care.

Community-based birth supported by midwives and nurses is increasing in the United States amid stark racial disparities in maternal outcomes and worsening access to pregnancy care. Although studies examining prenatal confidence have shown that persons with higher confidence are more likely to give birth vaginally, reporting less pain, anxiety, and dissatisfaction, existing measurement tools have focused on hospital births. Accordingly, we adapted the previously validated Preparation for Labor and Birth (P-LAB) instrument, which measures third-trimester confidence for physiologic birth, for community-based births, centering the perspectives of Black populations.

Although awareness of respectful maternity care is increasing, international maternal and newborn care standards often overlook culture as a key component of respectful care. Indigenous communities may have unique pregnancy care needs due to cultural and lived experience differences from the broader US population, yet little is known about Indigenous preferences for pregnancy care. We must articulate a vision for positive pregnancy care among Indigenous people in the United States.

Delays to colposcopy increase the risk for cervical cancer development. Our study sought to understand the barriers and facilitators to follow-up after an abnormal cervical cancer screening test result.

Given the prevalence and consequences of unmet social needs in perinatal populations, there is a critical demand for perinatal care that addresses social needs. To better support health systems in providing comprehensive social and perinatal care services, this quality improvement initiative uses the Donabedian model for care quality to describe the structure, process, and outcomes of embedding an innovative perinatal care program with integrated social care into an established primary care center.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is the most common cause of pregnancy-associated deaths for women in Illinois. In this article, we describe how to provide multimodality education and teaching opportunities in SUD and medication for opioid use disorder, incorporate community outreach to offer new experiential clinical learning opportunities, and enhance preceptor relationships to bolster educational partnerships as an innovative approach to incorporating SUD education into midwifery programs. Our teaching efforts identify the most vulnerable communities and create an innovative, midwifery-led solution to provide much-needed culturally aligned care addressing health disparities of those in rural and underserved communities. We highlight our utilization of an online education and training platform that students enroll in to obtain foundational knowledge in medication management for opioid use disorder, describe how we expanded clinical partnerships with providers actively providing medication management for opioid use disorders, and discuss how we evaluated those experiences and provided teaching/learning opportunities for students to present material across multiple cohorts of students. This innovative approach to integrating education for medication management of SUD through the above teaching modalities highlights our ability to meet the needs of our patients and prepare the future midwifery workforce with the clinical skills necessary for the work needed in clinical settings across the United States.

The historically unidirectional movement of global health ideas, practices, and protocols from the Global North (United States, Canada, European countries, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel) to the Global South (Latin American countries, African countries, the Middle East excluding Israel and Asia countries, and Oceania excluding those previously mentioned) has displaced local practice and produced little sustainable change. Actively addressing these unintended consequences, practitioners at Yale School of Nursing in the United States formed a sustainable, mutually beneficial partnership with Makerere University College of Health Sciences and Mother Health International community birth center in Atiak, Uganda, to reduce perinatal mortality in areas with the highest burden. Goals included establishing a collaborative midwifery education and research partnership; developing an interprofessional clinical rotation; and developing a blueprint for teaching the midwifery model of care in the Global South. The partnership has successfully produced outputs including midwifery education support, research, clinical training, interprofessional capacity building, and community integration within local health care systems. Lessons learned from program design, implementation, and evaluation can inform global learning collaborations that are multidirectional and lead to more equitable midwifery collaborations.

Burnout as a public health crisis has gained attention in recent years. Integrating a wellness curriculum into training programs can reduce burnout and cultivate the awareness and skills needed to support a sustainable career in health care. The faculty midwives within the residency program in obstetrics and gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University have implemented a successful, evidence-based wellness curriculum for residents that focuses on the emotional, physical, and psychological needs of learners. Participants report that this program increases work satisfaction and reduces burnout. The initiative could be modified across many disciplines of clinical training, and with midwife learners, to decrease stress during an academically rigorous and emotionally overwhelming time and provide trainees with tools that will sustain their sense of well-being throughout their careers.

The midwifery continuity of care model is well-established internationally, but it is rarely offered in Sweden. Pregnant women's interest in midwifery continuity of care has not been investigated in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the interest of pregnant women and new mothers in Sweden regarding midwifery continuity of care and to identify factors associated with this interest.

Although community-based interventions, including Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) groups, have demonstrated significant success in improving maternal and newborn health outcomes and promoting equity in low to middle-income countries, the evidence in high-income settings remains limited. This systematic review, carried out in collaboration with Women and Children First (a UK-based charity focusing on improving the lives of women and children globally), explores community-based initiatives that are currently used in high-income countries (HICs) to enhance maternal and newborn health, as well as the effectiveness of these initiatives in improving maternal and newborn health outcomes. Additionally, the review aims to examine the relationship between community-based initiatives and PLA methodology.

Maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States are marked by gross disparities linked to individual bias and systems-level factors. Implicit bias training is one strategy to address these disparities, and several states now require such education. Although evidence-based strategies to mitigate bias exist, these are not commonly integrated into training opportunities in clinical settings or evaluated for their impact on learners. We designed and evaluated an implicit bias skill building training program to address this gap.