Commentaries: Expanding the Conversation

New Largest Ever Waterbirth Study

Click here to learn more about the study. Click here to request a PDF of the full paper.

Birth in Eight Cultures (Book)

Synopsis This stunning sequel to Brigitte Jordan’s landmark Birth in Four Cultures brings together the work of fifteen reproductive anthropologists to address core cultural values and knowledge systems as revealed in contemporary birth practices in Brazil, Greece, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Tanzania, and the United States. Six ethnographic…

Community Versus Out‐of‐Hospital Birth: What’s in a Name?

Abstract The term out‐of‐hospital has long been used as a kind of shorthand to refer collectively to births that occur in birth centers or at home. However, this term has also been a persistent cause of concern among health care providers who attend births in these settings, and researchers and midwives are…

Reply to Farr et al. Letter (Benyshek et al.)

Abstract Reply: We welcome the opportunity to respond to the comments by Farr and colleagues in a Letter to Birth. Find the full study The full letter is available here. Citation Benyshek DC, Cheyney M, Bovbjerg ML. Reply to Farr et.al letter. [letter] Birth 2019 Mar; 46(1): 202-4.

What is Big data?

Find the full study Subscription only. To request a copy, contact us here Citation Peters, L. and M. Cheyney. (2018) What is Big data? Vereniging voor epidemiologie. Pp. 6-7.

The curse of the perinatal epidemiologist: inferring causation amidst selection.

Abstract Abstract PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Human reproduction is a common process and one that unfolds over a relatively short time, but pregnancy and birth processes are challenging to study. Selection occurs at every step of this process (e.g., infertility, early pregnancy loss, and stillbirth), adding substantial bias to estimated exposure-outcome…

Early childhood leadership: A photovoice exploration

Abstract The first five years of a child’s life represent critical windows in physiological, social-emotional, and cognitive development. Administrators of early childhood (EC) programs play a pivotal role in determining the quality of experiences that unfold for young children in center-based care. Using photovoice, semi-structured administrator interviews, and participant-observation, we…

Too Long to Wait: Obstetric Fistula and the Sociopolitical Dynamics of the Fourth Delay in Soroti, Uganda

Abstract Uganda has one of the highest obstetric fistula rates in the world with approximately 200,000 women currently suffering. Surgical closure successfully treats fistula in the majority of cases, yet there is a severe shortage of facilities and trained surgeons in low-resource countries. The purpose of this study was to…

Understanding Recent Home-Birth Research

Abstract In the past month, two new studies have been released—one in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM; Snowden et al., 2015) and the other in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (Hutton et al., 2015)—comparing out-of-hospital birth outcomes to hospital birth outcomes. These studies join a growing body of…

Making US Out-of Hospital Birth Safer Requires Systems Change

Abstract Birth is as safe as life gets. – Harriette Hartigan, direct-entry midwife What one deems “safe” is inherently subjective, involving a series of judgments and a relative weighing of multiple (and sometimes conflicting) factors. Find full study Subscription only. To request a copy, contact us here Citation Tilden, E.,…

Home birth is unsafe: AGAINST: Safe for whom?

ABSTRACT First, we question the underlying premise of this debate: that hospital birth is inherently safe. There has been much discussion regarding the ‘cascade of interventions’ that has become ubiquitous, at least in US hospital settings, and which culminates in caesareans—many of which are medically unnecessary—for over 30% of labouring…