Boston University School of Public Health
Presentation Abstract
Asking Different Questions: Research Priorities To Improve the Quality and Evidence Base of Care for Every Woman, Every Child
The research agenda on postpartum maternal and child health is often dictated by available datasets more than the actual needs of mothers and infants. The ready access to hospital discharge data in particular can establish the parameters of what gets studied and in what ways. Starting with the example of the explosion of current studies on severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and its consequences stemming from the simplicity of applying the SMM algorithm to different databases, this talk will explore the limits of such an approach and suggest the value of considering alternative data sources to assessing postpartum health. In particular, it will touch on the conditions best identified through survey research of parents and the value of longitudinal linked datasets in the analysis of postpartum health.
Survey research, such as the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and Listening to Mothers, can shed light on postpartum health conditions that significantly impact birthing parents, but may not necessitate a hospitalization. Examples include back pain, sleep loss, exhaustion, feeling of stress, anxiety, and depression as well as pain at the site of a cesarean. Longitudinally linked datasets present a different opportunity to explore postpartum health. They permit a richer analysis of the antecedents of postpartum health problems and place them in the context of longer-term health status. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of opportunities for future research relying on alternative sources on postpartum health.
About Dr. Declerq
Dr. Eugene (Gene) Declercq is a Professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health and Professor on the faculty of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Boston University School of Medicine. Originally trained as a political scientist, he found social science research training, combined with more than a decade as a childbirth educator, served him well in exploring maternity care in the United States. He’s collaborated on six reports on women’s experiences in childbirth entitled “Listening to Mothers” and maintains, with students, the website www.birthbythenumbers.org. Dr. Declercq is one of the founders of the Pregnancy to Early Life Longitudinal Data System that links vital statistics and administrative data on more than 1,600,000 births in Massachusetts since 1998. In recent years, he has focused his research on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity and he is a current member of the Massachusetts Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee.
Dr. Declerq did not disclose any conflicts of interest for this workshop.