annotated Bibliography
Deanna Earl
Seminar in Medical Humanities -MHU 4813
Professor: Abraham Graber
I get to make a living serving families at a fantastic time in their lives. There isn’t a better job I could imagine. Birth and settling in with a new baby are significant transitions in our human existence. I love working for myself. I decided on this path because of my interest in infant mortality rates that I learned about, especially amongst African American women. An article from the Maternal and Child Health Journal provides an astonishing statistic regarding infant mortality:
In 2002, US infants born at 34–36 weeks gestation, often called “late preterm infants,” accounted for 74.4 % of all preterm births and 7.7 % of all singleton births. Infants born late preterm have been found to have an infant mortality rate three times that of term infants (7.9 vs. 2.4 per 1,000 live births), to account for nearly 10 % of all infant deaths, and to be at greater risk for many neonatal complications than their term counterparts. (Gazmararian et al. 1)
This is just one example of why I am passionate about the work that I do because it helps save lives. I like to know that my contribution help decreases recovery time in a mother who has just delivered. Also, help reduce the use of an epidural, resulting in less medical intervention for a pregnant mother.
Work Cited
Callaghan, William. “240: Explaining the Recent Decrease in US Infant Mortality Rate, 2007-2013.” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 214, no. 1, Elsevier Inc, 2016, pp. S141–S142, doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2015.10.278.
Davis, Dána-Ain. Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth. NYU Press, 2019.
Goodnough, Abby. “U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Fell Steadily From ’05 to ’11.” New York Times, 17 Apr. 2013.
King, Gazmararian, et al. “Disparities in Mortality Rates Among US Infants Born Late Preterm or Early Term, 2003–2005.” Maternal and Child Health Journal, vol. 18, no. 1, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Jan. 2014, pp. 233–41, doi:10.1007/s10995-013-1259-0.
Kozhimannil, Hardeman. “Modeling the Cost‐Effectiveness of Doula Care Associated with Reductions in Preterm Birth and Cesarean Delivery.” Birth, vol. 43, no. 1, WILEY, Mar. 2016, pp. 20–27, doi:10.1111/birt.12218.
Langford, McIntyreHall. “Finally Addressing Maternal and Infant Mortality Rates in Virginia: Black Women in the Commonwealth Die in Childbirth at an Alarmingly High Rate.” The Washington Post, 2019.
MacDorman, M. F., Declercq, E., & Thoma, M. E. (2017). Trends in maternal mortality by socio-demographic characteristics and cause of death in 27 states and the District of Columbia. Obstetrics and gynecology, 129(5), 811.
McDaniels, Andrea. “Baltimore Enlists Doulas to Help Bring down Infant Mortality Rate: Pregnant Women Will Be Assisted before, During and after Childbirth with Nonmedical Matters.” The Washington Post, 7 Aug. 2017, p1 Web. 1 Dec 2020.
Mottl-Santiago, Julie, et al. “A Hospital-Based Doula Program and Childbirth Outcomes in an Urban, Multicultural Setting.” Maternal and Child Health Journal, vol. 12, no. 3, Springer US, May 2008, pp. 372–77, doi:10.1007/s10995-007-0245- 9.
Petersen, E. E., Davis, N. L., Goodman, D., Cox, S., Mayes, N., Johnston, E., ... & Barfield, W. (2019). Vital signs: pregnancy-related deaths, United States, 2011–2015, and strategies for prevention, 13 states, 2013–2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 68(18), 423.
Pierre, A. S., Zaharatos, J., Goodman, D., & Callaghan, W. M. (2018). Challenges and opportunities in identifying, reviewing, and preventing maternal deaths. Obstetrics and gynecology, 131(1), 138.