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This book uniquely explores American cultural values as a factor in maternal health. It looks beyond the social determinants of health as primarily contributing to the escalating maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States.
The United States is an outlier with poor maternal health outcomes and high morbidity/mortality in comparison to other high-resource and many mid-level resource nations. While the social determinants of health identify social and environmental conditions affecting maternal health, they do not answer the broader underlying question of why many American women, in a high-resource environment, experience poor maternal health outcomes. Frequent near-misses, high levels of severe childbearing-related morbidity, and high maternal mortality are comparable to those of lower-resource nations.
This book includes contributions from recognized medical and cultural anthropologists, and diverse clinical and public health professionals. The authors examine American patterns of decision-making from the perspectives of intersecting social, cultural, and medical values influencing maternal health outcomes. Using an interdisciplinary critical analysis approach, the work draws upon decision-making theory and life course theory. Topics explored include:
- Cultural values as a basis for decision-making
- Social regard for motherhood
- Immigrants, refugees and undocumented mothers
- Cultural conflicts and maternal autonomy
- Health outcomes among justice-involved mothers
Maternal Health and American Cultural Values: Beyond the Social Determinants is an essential resource for clinical and public health practitioners and their students, providing a framework for graduate-level courses in public health, the health sciences, women's studies, and the social sciences. The book also targets anthropologists, sociologists, and women studies scholars seeking to explain the links between American cultural decision-making and health outcomes. Policy-makers, ethicists, journalists, and advocates for reproductive health justice also would find the text a useful resource.
List of contents
PART I Maternal Health, American Cultural Values, and the Social Determinants of Healt.- Chapter 1 The health of American mothers in the context of cultural values.- Chapter 2 Cultural values as a basis for decision-making.- PART II The Lived Experience of American Mothers.- Chapter 3 Social regard for motherhood.- Chapter 4 Fertility and reproductive health.- Chapter 5 Maternal mental health and illness.- Chapter 6 American mothers in the military community.- PART III Mothers in a Divided Nation.- Chapter 7 Immigrants, refugees and undocumented mothers.- Chapter 8 Maternal health outcomes and othering: Ethnicity and race.- Chapter 9 Cultural conflicts and maternal autonomy.- Chapter 10 The national conversation on maternal health.- PART IV Community Forces Influencing Maternal Health.- Chapter 11 Healthcare providers: Leadership for optimal maternal health.- Chapter 12 Survival services for American mothers.- Chapter 13 Community influences onmaternal safety.- Chapter 14 Substance abuse and maternal health.- Chapter 15 Health outcomes among justice-involved mothers.- PART V Reflections in the Cultural Mirror.- Chapter 16 Conclusions.- Index.
