See the excellent studies, reports, and articles below and review the in-depth research and information coming to light, including about Certified Professional Midwives, childbirth, and out-of-hospital birth, which takes place in private homes and freestanding birth centers. If you have research links to share, please either leave a comment below or if you prefer, email them to PushGirl at PushForMidwives dot org.

• Ellmann, Nora, and Fields Allsbrook, Jamille. (April 30, 2021). States’ Essential Health Benefits Coverage Could Advance Maternal Health Equity. Center for American Progress. 
• Multiple Authors. (April 2021). Reversing the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis. Aspen Health Strategy Group.
• De Vries, Raymond, PhD, and Declercq, Eugene, PhD. (April 28, 2021). How The Pandemic Can Help Fix Maternity Care in the United States. The American Journal of Bioethics.
• Multiple Authors. (October 2020). Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes in Hospital-Based Deliveries With Water Immersion. Obstetrics & Gynecology.
• Multiple Authors. (April 2020). Preventing Preterm Birth: an Update for Medicaid MCOs on Utilization of Progesterone. Institute for Medicaid Innovation.
• Multiple Authors. (April 14, 2020). Where do women birth during a pandemic? Changing perspectives on Safe Motherhood during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Global Health Science.
• Reis, Elizabeth. (February 18, 2020). Midwives and pregnant men: laboring toward ethical care in the United States. CMAJ.
• Anekwe, Lilian. (February 12, 2020). Ethnic disparities in maternal care. British Medical Journal.
• Multiple Authors. (February 2020). Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
• Multiple Authors. (January 29, 2020). Worth the Weight? Recent Trends in Obstetric Practices, Gestational Age, and Birth Weight in the United States. Demography.
• Multiple Authors. (November 2019). More Midwife-Led Care Could Generate Cost Savings and Health Improvements. University of Minnesota School of Public Health Policy Brief.
• Multiple Authors. (September 2019). Perinatal or neonatal mortality among women who intend at the onset of labour to give birth at home compared to women of low obstetrical risk who intend to give birth in hospital: A systematic review and meta-analyses. The Lancet.
• Dahlen, Hannah G. (September 2019). Is it Time to Ask Whether Facility Based Birth is Safe for Low Risk Women and Their Babies? The Lancet.
• Multiple Authors. (August 7, 2019). Midwifery Presence in United States Medical Centers and Labor Care and Birth Outcomes Among Low-Risk Nulliparous Women: A consortium on Safe Labor Study. MDLinx.
• Multiple Authors The Experience and Motivations of Midwives of Color in Minnesota: Nothing for Us Without Us. (August 4, 2019). Wiley Online Library.
• Multiple Authors. (July 9, 2019). Maternity service organisational interventions that aim to reduce caesarean section: a systematic review and meta-analyses. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.
• Multiple Authors. (June 11, 2019). The Giving Voice to Mothers study: inequity and mistreatment during pregnancy and childbirth in the United States. Reproductive Health Journal.
• Multiple Authors. (May 2019). Midwifery is a vital solution—What is holding back global progress?. Birth - Wiley Online Library.
• Searing, Adam, and Cohen Ross, Donna. (May 2019). Medicaid Expansion Fills Gaps in Maternal Health Coverage Leading to Healthier Mothers and Babies. Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families.
• Multiple Authors. (April 2019). Strong Start in birth centers: Socio‐demographic characteristics, care processes, and outcomes for mothers and newborns. Birth - Wiley Online Library.
  • Findings at a Glance
  • CMS Joint Informational Bulletin
  • Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative: General Information
• Multiple Authors. (March 25, 2019). ADVANCING BIRTH JUSTICE: Community-Based Doula Models as a Standard of Care for Ending Racial Disparities. Ancient Song Doula Services, Village Birth International, Every Mother Counts.
• Kozhimannil, Katy B. PhD, MA. (February 19, 2019). Impossible Math: Financing a Freestanding Birth Center and Supporting Health Equity. The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC). 
• Join-effort initiative between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Administration on Children and Families (ACF). (February 11, 2019). Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative: General Information. CMS.gov.
• Cheyney, Melissa, PhD, CPM, LDM. (January 29, 2019). Community Versus Out-of-Hospital Birth: What's in a Name? Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health.
• Multiple Authors. (October 2018). Reduced prevalence of small-for- gestational-age and preterm birth for women of low socioeconomic position: a population-based cohort study comparing antenatal midwifery and physician models of care. British Medical Journal.
• Davis-Floyd, Robbie E. (October 2018). Open and Closed Knowledge Systems, the 4 Stages of Cognition, and the Cultural Management of Birth. Conceptual Analysis Article.
• Multiple Authors. (July 2018). Maternal and perinatal outcomes by planned place of birth among women with low-risk pregnancies in high-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Midwifery Journal.
• Multiple Authors. (May 2018). Immersion in Water During Labor and Birth. Cochrane Library.
• Multiple Authors. (Several dates; for each citation). Annotated Bibliography for Home Birth Citations. ACNM Publications.
• Multiple Authors. (February 2018). Birth Place Lab: The Access and Integration Maternity Care Mapping. Birth Place Lab.
• Multiple Authors. (February 21, 2018). Mapping integration of midwives across the United States: Impact on access, equity, and outcomes. Birth Place Lab.
• Multiple Authors. (2018). Mapping Collaboration Across Birth Settings. Birth Place Lab.
• Multiple Authors. (2018). Birth Place Lab: Social Media Toolkit. Birth Place Lab.
• Multiple Authors. (2018). Battling Over Birth: Black Women & The Maternal Health Care Crisis in California. Black Women Birthing Justice.
• Embry Howell, Ashley Palmer, and Bowmen Garret. (2018). Potential Medicaid Cost Savings from Maternity Care Based at a Freestanding Birth Center. ncbi
• Multiple Authors. (2018). Neonatal outcomes with water birth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Elsevier Women's Health Issues.
• Cristen Pascucci. (September 2017). Being Admitted to the Hospital or Signing Consent Forms is NOT “Implied Consent.” Birth Monopoly.
• Multiple Authors. (July/ August 2017). Reducing the Primary Cesarean Birth Rate: A Quality Improvement Project. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health.
• Damkjær Maimburg, Rikke. (April 2017). Clarification of the methods and statistics in the study “Planned home birth and the association with neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.” De Gruyter.
• Multiple Authors. (March 2017). Perspectives on risk: Assessment of risk profiles and outcomes among women planning community birth in the United States. Wiley Online Library.
• Multiple Authors. (February 2017). The JJ Way™ Model of Maternity Care. Final Evaluation Report.
• Multiple Authors. (January 2017). BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Wiley Online Library.
• Multiple Authors. (2017). Smoking and Pregnancy. Vaping Daily.
• Kotaska, Andrew. (2017). Informed consent and refusal in obstetrics: A practical ethical guide. Wiley Birth-Issues in Perinatal Care.
• Simkins, Gera, former president of Midwives Alliance North America (MANA). (2017). Understanding Relative Risks In The Community Birth Setting. MANA.
• (2014–2017) AddictionResource.com. Drug and Pregnancy Two Lives are at Risk. Addiction Resourse.com.
• Multiple Authors. (Janurary 2016). Why Are Obstetric Units in Rural Hospitals Closing Their Doors? Wiley Online Library.
• Multiple Authors. (January 2015). Cesarean Section and Chronic Immune Disorders. American Academy of Pediatrics (PEDIATRICS Volume 135, number 1).
• MANA, ICAN, ICTC, Elephant Circle. (2015). Racial Disparities in Birth Outcomes and Racial Discrimination as an Independent Risk Factor Affecting Maternal, Infant, and Child Health. An Executive Summary of Existing Research.
• Yang, Y. Tony and Kozhimannil, Katy B. (2015). Legal Impediments to Midwifery. Elsevier Women's Health Issues.
• Multiple Authors. (October 22, 2014). Maternal diagnoses don’t explain variation in cesarean rates across US hospitals. University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
• Multiple Authors. (October 2014). Maternal Clinical Diagnoses and Hospital Variation in the Risk of Cesarean Delivery: Analyses of a National US Hospital Discharge Database. Public Library of Science.
• Multiple Authors. (October 2014). Paper Outlines Framework for Improving Maternal, Newborn Health Through Midwifery. National Partnership for Women & Families.
• Multiple Authors. (June 2014). Report: the U.S. Ranks Last Among 11 Countries for Health Care Quality. California Healthline.
• Multiple Authors. (March 2014). Trends in Out-of-Hospital Births in the United States, 1990–2012. National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Our Sisters In Chains, Oursistersinchains.org.
• Dimer, Jane, MD, Kaiser Permanente. (March 1, 2014). Home Birth By Clinical Review. Kaiser Permanente.
• Multiple Authors. (Jan-Feb 2014). Development and validation of a national data registry for midwife-led births. NCBI.
• Cheyney M, Bovbjerg M, Everson C, Gordon W, Hannibal D, Vedam S. (January 2014). Development and validation of a national data registry for midwife-led births: the Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project 2.0 dataset. NCBI
• Multiple Authors. (February 2014). Development and Validation of a National Data Registry for Midwife-Led Births: The Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project 2.0 Dataset. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health.
• Multiple Authors. (February 2014). Outcomes of Care for 16,924 Planned Home Births in the United States: The Midwives Alliance of North America Statistics Project, 2004 to 2009. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health.
• Lothian, Judith. (January 30, 2014). Research Review: Outcomes of Care for 16,924 Planned Home Births in the United States. Science & Sensibility.
• ConsumerReports.org. (February 2013). What to reject when you’re expecting. ConsumerReports.org.
• Multiple Authors. (August 2013). Shackling of Incarcerated Pregnant Women: A Human Rights Violation Committed Regularly in the United. Issue Lab.
• CDC. (July 22, 2013). Assessing the Quality of Medical and Health Data from the 2003 Birth Certificate Revision: Results from Two States. CDC – National Vital Statistics Reports.
• Multiple Authors. (June 2013). Listening to Mothers III New Mothers Speak Out. Childbirth Connection.
• Hammer, Raphaël P. and Burton-Jeangros, Claudine. (2013). Tensions around risks in pregnancy: A typology of women’s experiences of surveillance medicine. Elsevier Social Science & Medicine.
• Multiple Authors. (Sept. 2012). HOME BIRTH: An annotated guide to the literature. Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA).
• Weeks, John. (March 29, 2012). Homebirth Midwives and the Hospital Goliath: Evidence Builds for Disruptive Innovation. Huffington Post.
• Gordan, Wendy, CPM, LM, MPH. (September 17, 2013). Understanding Outliers in Home Birth Research. Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA).
• Joelving, Frederik. (Sept. 16, 2011). OB-GYN Guidelines Often Based on Opinion, Weak Data. Reuters.
• Gibson, Faith. LM, CPM. (Sept. 2011). Traveling Through Time to Normal Birth. Birth.
• BioMed Central. (Aug. 14, 2011). Maternal IV Fluids Linked to Newborns’ Weight Loss. ScienceDaily.
• Cahill A., Tuuli M, Odibo A, Stamilio D, Macones G. (Feb. 4, 2011). Do We Need To Revisit VBAC Guidelines For Women With Three Or More Prior Caesareans? BJOG 2010.
• Bowser, Diana, Sc.D., M.P.H., and Hill, Kathleen, M.D. Exploring Evidence for Disrespect and Abuse in Facility-Based Childbirth. USAID-TRAction Project, Harvard School of Public Health, University Research Co, LLC.
• Multiple Authors. (July 7, 2010). Critique of a meta-analysis by Wax and colleagues. Scribd.com.
• Goer, Henci. (June 2010). Cruelty in Maternity Wards: Fifty Years Later. HenciGoer.com.
• Walden, Rachel, MLIS. (March 14, 2010). Sunday News Round-Up, NIH VBAC+ Edition. Women’s Health News.
• Amnesty International. (March 12, 2010). Deadly Delivery-The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA. Amnesty International Publications 2010.
• Multiple Authors. (March 12, 2010). Transforming Maternity Care — A Blueprint for Action. Medscape.com.
• Multiple Authors. (Feb. 25, 2010). Science and Sensibility: Choice of Birth Place in the United States. Medscape.com.
• Peterson, Caroline, CPM, DC, Ph.D., MPH. (Dec 2009). Midwifery and the Crowning of Health Care Reform. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health.
• Hodges, Susan, MS. (Fall 2009). Abuse in Hospital-Based Birth Settings? The Journal of Perinatal Education via US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
• Multiple Authors. (June 2009). Vaginal delivery of breech presentation. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.
• Plante, Lauren A. (April 21, 2009). Mommy, What Did You Do in the Industrial Revolution? JSTOR: International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring, 2009.
• Multiple Authors. (Jan. 31, 2009). Born in the USA: Exceptionalism in Maternity Care Organisation Among High-Income Countries. Sociological Research Online, 14(1)5.
• Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. (Jan. 30, 2009). Sonogram Able to Predict Uterine Rupture Risk for Women Attempting VBAC. DocGuide.com.
• Multiple Authors. (July- 9 September 2009). Ultimate doctor liability: A myth of ignorance or myth of control? Science Direct.
• Jordan, Robin G., and Aikins Murphy, Patricia. (May/June 2009). Risk Assessment and Risk Distortion: Finding the Balance. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health.
• Multiple Authors. (November-December 2009). Risk and the Pregnant Body. Hastings Center Report.
• Multiple Authors (2009). Staying Home to Give Birth: Why Women in the United States Choose Home Birth. Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health.
• Cheyney, Melissa J. (February 1, 2008). Homebirth as Systems-Challenging Praxis: Knowledge, Power, and Intimacy in the Birthplace. Qualitative Health Research.
• Multiple Authors. (Nov. 2008). Labor before a primary cesarean delivery: reduced risk of uterine rupture in a subsequent trial of labor for vaginal birth after cesarean. Obstetrical Gynecology via US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
• Sakala, Carol and Corry, Maureen P. (December, 2008). Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve. Milbank Memorial Fund, Childbirth Connection and The Reforming States Group.
• Johnson, Kenneth C., and Daviss, Betty-Anne. (June 16, 2005). Outcomes of Planned Home Births with Certified Professional Midwives: Large Prospective Study in North America. BMJ.
• Multiple Authors. (April 1999). The Future of Midwifery. Pew Health Professions Commission and the University of California, San Francisco Center for the Health Professions.
• Butter, Irene H., and Kay, Bonnie J. (September 1988). State Laws and the Practice of Lay Midwifery. AJPH September 1988, Vol. 78, No. 9.