Maternal and Child Health Journal

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether pre-pandemic state Medicaid expansions for adults affected children's healthcare access and utilization, child health, and parental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The sample includes children from households with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level using data from the 2016-2023 National Survey of Children's Health. Child outcomes include in…

Youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) are 5–8 times more likely than housed peers to become pregnant. A more nuanced examination of YEH pregnancy desire may better inform pregnancy and pregnancy prevention guidance. This study examined pregnancy ambivalence, pregnancy history, condom use, and contraceptive use among sexually active YEH. We utilized baseline data of YEH aged 16–25 from a randomize…

OBJECTIVES: To examine associations between virtual prenatal care utilization, social determinants of health, and stressful life events. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional pooled survey data (N = 11,966) from phase 8 of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System for women who gave birth in 2020 or 2021 and received prenatal care. RESULTS: A third (35%) of women utilized virtual rather than…

OBJECTIVES: Although close to 1 in 10 children under age 2 gain excess weight and can remain overweight throughout life, engaging parents in early preventative interventions is challenging because they may not recognize the issue of overweight in infancy. This study aimed to inform knowledge about maternal perceptions of infant obesity, to investigate topics of interest for program content and id…

Group health literacy training sessions that implement culturally concurrent methods, including pre-recorded presentations, are effective in increasing postpartum knowledge and health literacy in the Arab RIM community, regardless of parity. Enhancing PHL has the potential to reduce the risks of postpartum complications, such as postpartum depression (PPD), and can potentially contribute to postp…

Access to a lactation consultant continues to be a significant contributor to breastfeeding behavior. Infant formula shortages may create risks for formula fed and breastfed infants. Breastfeeding protection and promotion may be a critical step in decreasing dependence on infant formula.

Our results highlight the importance of individual and community drivers required to improve maternal mental health conditions. More community support systems for the mental health along with reproductive health will greatly improve maternal health outcomes.

Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) is a home visiting program designed for parents of children between birth and 48 months of age who have experienced early adversity. Previous research demonstrated that ABC enhances parental sensitivity and reduces parental intrusiveness through both in-person and hybrid delivery methods (Roben et al.in Child Development 88(5):1447–1452, 2017, https://d…