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We descriptively examined measures of family structure, socioeconomic disadvantage, and exposure to crime, violence, and substance use in young adulthood and childhood for those who experienced maternal incarceration as children.

We used data from waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We compared these individuals to two groups: those who did not experience maternal incarceration and those who experienced paternal incarceration. We generated weighted means and conducted F-tests using bivariate regressions to determine where these groups significantly differed.

We found that individuals whose mothers were incarcerated during their childhoods experienced greater hardships in both childhood and young adulthood than those whose mothers were not incarcerated. Individuals who experienced maternal incarceration reported similar levels of socioeconomic disadvantage and exposure to crime and violence as those who experienced paternal incarceration. One notable exception was family structure, where maternal incarceration was associated with significantly fewer respondents reporting living with their mother or either biological parent.

With the exception of family structure, the childhood and transition to adulthood were comparable for individuals experiencing any form of parental incarceration. These children were significantly more disadvantaged and exposed to more risk factors than those whose parents were never incarcerated. Additional support and resources are necessary for families who have incarcerated parents, with special outreach made to families without a biological mother in the household.

There has been no overarching, descriptive study comparing child and young adult outcomes of those with an incarcerated mother using a nationally representative, longitudinal dataset in the United States.

We investigate the question of whether investing in a child’s development by having a parent stay at home when the child is young is correlated with the child’s adult outcomes. Specifically, do children with stay-at-home mothers have higher adult earnings than children raised in households with a working mother? The major contribution of our study is that, unlike previous studies, we have access to rich longitudinal data that allows us to measure both the parental earnings when the child is very young and the adult earnings of the child. Our findings are consistent with previous studies that show insignificant differences between children raised by stay-at-home mothers during their early years and children with mothers working in the market. We find no impact of maternal employment during the first five years of a child’s life on earnings, employment, or mobility measures of either sons or daughters. We do find, however, that maternal employment during children’s high school years is correlated with a higher probability of employment as adults for daughters and a higher correlation between parent and daughter earnings ranks.

Depressive symptoms are higher among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Many studies have evidenced associations between school disconnectedness and depressive symptoms by race and ethnicity in adolescence (Joyce & Early, 2014; Walsemann, Bell, & Maitra, 2011). Given that adolescents spend most of their time at home when they are not at school (Larson & Richards, 2001), it is important to understand how mother-child relationships may moderate school disconnectedness, and how mother–child relationships may serve as a protective buffer for depressive symptoms in the transition to adulthood. I use data from Waves II and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) from 1995 to 2002 (n = 9,766) and OLS regression analysis to examine how school disconnectedness in adolescence is associated with depressive symptoms in the transition to adulthood, and how mother–child relationships in adolescence moderate these associations in the United States. I examine differences in these relationships across racial and ethnic groups. I find that school disconnectedness in adolescence is associated with increased depressive symptoms in the transition to adulthood, and that maternal warmth and communication moderates the association between school disconnectedness and depressive symptoms. Maternal relationship quality in adolescence serves as an important protective factor for mental health in the transition to adulthood.

Information communication technologies can serve as a crucial missing link toward tacking wicked problems of social welfare policy implementation through collaborative governance. Using a mixed methods approach, a pre- and postanalyses were used to investigate whether and how cell phones can increase awareness of pregnant women about different cash and service benefits of maternal health benefit policies of 82 pregnant women in a remote tribal community in Melghat forest of Maharashtra, India. Pregnant women received customized prerecorded bilingual audio calls on their mobile phones about maternal health benefit policies. The author then traced whether those audio messages increased the claiming of policy benefits and public engagement. The key contribution of this research is that contrary to the optimism about digital governance, findings suggest that cell phones are not a “silver bullet” for increasing receipt of maternal health benefits. This book chapter concludes with the prescription that the impact of mobile phones and other information technologies will be marginal as long as there are administrative deficiencies in policy implementation and a misalignment in state and federal policy designs.

Nonresident fathers have the task of negotiating childrearing responsibilities while residing away from their children. Parenting stress arises when nonresident fathers perceive childrearing power differentials as maternal gatekeeping behaviors. In this pilot study, a mediation model was tested with a sample of Black fathers who reported coparenting a nonresident child or children with only one mother (n = 80). The proposed mediation model tested two hypotheses: (1) coparenting relationship and coparenting support, respectively, each have a direct effect on paternal stressors and (2) the effects of coparenting relationship and coparenting support on fathers’ paternal stressors are mediated through maternal gatekeeping behaviors. Findings indicate that cooperative coparenting lessens parental stressors such as concerns about role functions and concerns about their child’s behavior in the presence of controlling maternal gatekeeping behaviors.

Research has found a strong correlation between maternal healthcare and health insurance coverage. But, despite having one of the best health coverage systems in the developing world, Rwanda still faces formidable challenges in provision certain key maternal health services, leading to higher levels of maternal morbidity and mortality. To understand this paradox, this study will examine the association between maternal health services and insurance coverage, utilizing the latest data from the Rwanda Demographic Health Survey.

Using a sample of 6,167 childbearing women aged 15–49 years, a bivariate and multivariate analysis was conducted to examine the paradoxical relationship between health insurance and maternal health services, such as antenatal care, in Rwanda.

The results reveal significant differences in ANC4+ and the timing of the first ANC, which remain low in Rwanda. Despite significant improvements in delivery factors and skilled ANC providers, ANC4+ rates in the country remain the lowest. However, this study found a positive and significant association between ANC4+ and insurance coverage (AOR = 1.64, p < 0.001).

Rwanda has implemented an effective health insurance policy, but there has been minimal progress in the utilization of maternal health services. Therefore, there is a strong need for policy interventions to reduce barriers to healthcare utilization. Additionally, supply-side factors such as transportation, socio-cultural factors and other logistic barriers should be examined in greater detail. These factors may overshadow the impact of health insurance on the utilization of healthcare services in Rwanda.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0059

Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are struggling to reduce maternal mortality rates, despite increased efforts by the United Nations through the implementation of their Millennium Development Goals program. Industrialized nations, such as Canada, have a collaborative role to play in raising the global maternal health standards. The purpose of this paper is to propose policy approaches for Canadians and other Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations who wish to assist in reducing maternal mortality rates.

Ten Canadian health experts with experience in global maternal health were interviewed. Using qualitative analytical methods, the authors coded and themed their responses and paired them with peer-reviewed literature in this area to establish a model for improving global maternal health and survival rates.

Findings from this study indicated that maternal health may be improved by establishing a collaborative approach between interdisciplinary teams of health professionals (e.g. midwives, family physicians, OB/GYNs and nurses), literacy teachers, agriculturalists and community development professionals (e.g. humanitarians with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds). From this, a conceptual approach was devised for elevating the standard of maternal health. This approach includes specifications by which maternal health may be improved, such as gender justice, women’s literacy, freedom from violence against women, food and water security and healthcare accessibility. This model is based on community health center (CHC) models that integrate upstream changes with downstream services may be utilized by Canada and other OECD nations in efforts to enhance maternal health at home and abroad.

Maternal mortality may be reduced by the adoption of a CHC model, an approach well suited for all nations regardless of economic status. Establishing such a model in LMICs would ideally establish long-term relationships between countries, such as Canada and the LMICs, where teams from supporting nations would collaborate with local Ministries of Health, non-government organizations as well as traditional birth attendants and healthcare professionals to reduce maternal mortality.

All OECD Nations ought to donate 0.7 percent of their GDP toward international community development. These funds should break the tradition of “tied aid”, thereby removing profit motives, and genuinely contribute to the wellbeing of people in LMICs, particularly women, children and others who are vulnerable. The power of partnerships between people whose aims are genuinely focused on caring is truly transformative.

Canada is not a driver of global maternal mortality reduction work but has a responsibility to work in partnership with countries or regions in a humble and supportive role. Applying a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to reducing maternal mortality in the Global South includes adopting a CHC model: a community development approach to address social determinants of health and integrating various systems of evidence-informed healthcare with a commitment to social justice. Interdisciplinary teams would include literacy professionals, researchers, midwives, nurses, family physicians, OB/GYNs and community development professionals who specialize in anti-poverty work, mediation/dialogue and education campaigns that emphasize the value of all people regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion and income. Diasporic Canadians are invaluable members of these teams due to their linguistic and cultural knowledge as well as their enthusiasm for working with their countries of origin. Establishment of long-term partnerships of 5–10 years between a Canadian team and a region or nation in the Global South that is dedicated to reducing maternal mortality and improving women’s health are valuable. Canada’s midwifery education programs are rated as world leaders so connecting midwives from Canada with those of the Global South will facilitate essential transfer of knowledge such as using birth plans and other evidence-based practices. Skilled attendants at the birth place will save women’s lives; in most cases, trained midwives are the most appropriate attendants. Video link to a primer about this paper by Dr Farah Shroff: https://maa.med.ubc.ca/videos-and-media/.

There are virtually no retrievable articles that document why OECD nations ought to work with nations in the LMICs to improve maternal health. This paper outlines the reasons why it is important and explains how to do it well.

This paper aims to examine links between women's access to micro‐finance and how they use maternal healthcare services in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA).

The authors use theoretical and empirical literature to propose a framework to sustain and improve women's access to maternal healthcare services through micro‐financing.

It is found that improved access to micro‐finance by women, combined with education may enhance maternal health service uptake.

The paper does not consider empirical data in the analysis. The authors advocate empirically testing the framework proposed in other SSA countries.

It is important to empower women by facilitating their access to education and micro‐finance. This has implications for improving maternal healthcare utilization in SSA.

The paper moves beyond poor access to maternal health services in SSA and proposes a framework for providing sustainable solutions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the satisfaction of women who underwent normal delivery and cesarean section (or C-section) with maternal care in five state-run hospitals in Northwestern Turkey.

This was a cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 580 women who underwent normal delivery (ND) and 392 who had a C-section (CS). Data were collected using two maternal satisfaction questionnaires, which participants completed right before they were discharged.

More than half of ND (61.7%) and CS (56.9%) participants were satisfied with maternal care. ND participants who had received antenatal training were more satisfied with maternal care than CS participants who had not received antenatal training. Higher income was a significant predictor for reduced satisfaction with maternal care among CS participants (p = 0.031).

Hospital administrators and decision-makers should meet women's expectations, provide them with comfort, encourage them for skin-to-skin contact and respect their right to privacy in order to increase their satisfaction with maternal care. Pregnant women should also be encouraged to receive antenatal training offered by hospitals before delivery.

The evidence-based results of the study will help hospital administrators to improve healthcare quality and focus on increasing women's satisfaction with maternal care.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the regional variations in maternal and child health all over India. The Maternal and Child Health Index (MCHI) is constructed to find the extent of variations in maternal and child health status for the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India.

The Wroclow taxonomic technique was used to construct the MCHI for the States and UTs of India. In all, 29 variables were selected for the construction of MCHI. All the variables were taken from National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS, 2017) of India.

The findings suggest that there are wide variations in MCHI all over India. In India, Kerala topped in terms of MCHI followed by Jammu & Kashmir. Nagaland is on the bottom of the list followed by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. High values of MCHI (> 0.4) are posing a serious concern for all States/UTs in India.

The existence of inequality in MCHI for India is truly posing a serious inquiry regarding the healthcare system in India. The outcome of the study demands that time has come to adopt a human rights approach to the right to health in India. The findings of the study could be used by the health policy makers in India.

This study shows the existence of wide variations in the quality of maternal and child health all over India. The quantification of the quality of maternal and child health is needed to improve the health of the population in India. Little research has been done on the issue of quality of maternal and child health in India. This study is an important contribution to the current knowledge of quality of maternal and child health in India.