Eugene R. Declercq Ph.D.
Assistant Dean for Doctoral Education
Professor of Maternal and Child Health
Boston University
Email: declercq@bu.edu
Discipline: Political Science, Public Health
Expertise: Women's Health
Investigator Award 
Public Interest and Private Policy: The Cesarean Imperative in U.S. Maternity CareAward Year: 2004 In 2003, cesarean sections accounted for 27.6 percent of all births in the U.S. - the highest rate yet recorded in America and higher than rates in most other industrialized countries. Eugene R. Declercq, Ph.D. uses cesarean sections as a case study to address broader policy questions common to the U.S. health care system: overuse of a costly surgical procedure, disparities in terms of who receives the procedure, the impact of evidence in changing medical practice, the impact of physician fear of malpractice lawsuits, the role of consumers and other interest groups in shaping health care policy and practice, and the role of government in financing quality care and containing costs. Dr. Declercq's project, Public Interest and Private Policy: The Cesarean Imperative in U.S. Maternity Care, examines trends in cesarean births, outcomes of elective cesareans, women's attitudes toward maternity care, the views of obstetricians, the debate over malpractice reform, and the role of government initiatives. His work aims to influence maternity care practice and shed light more generally on health care policymaking in America.
Background 
Eugene R. Declercq is professor of maternal and child health and Assistant Dean for Doctoral Education at Boston University School of Public Health. He combines formal training in political science with his almost twenty years of experience as a certified childbirth educator to examine policy and practice around childbirth in the US and abroad. The most recent example is his current research examining cesarean section in the US as part of his work as an RWJF Investigator Award. He has served as lead author of two national studies of women's experiences in childbirth entitled Listening to Mothers. He's also been active in a variety of public health projects in his hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts, including immunization and lead poisoning prevention efforts and is currently involved in a community-wide oral health campaign that includes the development of a dental clinic. He has authored two editions of the report, The Health of the Merrimack Valley, which examined health status in 24 Massachusetts communities. As an educator, he is a past president of the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health and has been a recipient of the Norman Scotch Award for outstanding teaching at BUSPH. He currently serves as the BUSPH Assistant Dean for Doctoral Education, directing a collaborative effort that led to a new Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.) Program at BUSPH. He also serves on the Steering Committee for the Dr.P.H. Subcommittee of the Association of Schools of Public Health.
- Declercq, E. Changing the Rules: The Impact of Information Technology on Contemporary Maternity Practice, In Medical Professionalism in the New Information Age, eds. Rothman, D.J., Blumenthal, D. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 116-131, 201
- Declercq, E., Barger, M., Weiss, J. The Role of Evidence in Reducing Disparities in Maternity Care Practices, In Reducing Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Reproductive and Perinatal Outcomes: The Evidence for Population-Based Intervention, eds. Kennelly, J.
- Bourgeault, I.V., Declercq, E., Sandall, J., Wrede, S., Vanstone, M., vanTeijlingen, E., DeVries, R., Benoit, C. Too Posh to Push? Comparative Perspectives on Maternal Request Caesarean Sections in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Finland, In Patients, Co
- Declercq, E., Young, R.L. Implications of Subdividing Marital Status: Are Unmarried Mothers with Partners Different from Unmarried Mothers without Partners? An Exploratory Analysis. Maternal Child Health J., Mar 2010, 14(2): 209-14.
- Declercq, E., Menacker, F., MacDorman, M.F. Neonatal Mortality Risk for Repeat Cesarean Compared to Vaginal Birth after Cesarean (VBAC) Deliveries in the United States, 1998-2002 Birth Cohorts. Maternal Child Health J., Mar 2010, 14(2): 147-154.
- MacDorman, M.F., Declercq, E., Zhang, J. Obstetrical Intervention and the Singleton Preterm Birth Rate in the United States from 1991-2006. AJPH, November 2010, 100(11): 2241-2247.
- Declercq, E. Births Attended by Certified Nurse-midwives in the United States Reach an All-time High: Trends from 1989 to 2006. J. Midwifery & Women's Health, May 2009, 54(3): 263-5.
- Declercq, E., Labbok, M.H., Sakala, C., O'Hara, M. Hospital Practices and Women's Likelihood of Fulfilling Their Intention to Exclusively Breastfeed. AJPH, May 2009, 99(5): 929-35.
- MacDorman, M.F., Menacker, F., Declercq, E. Cesarean Birth in the U.S.: Epidemiology, Trends, and Outcomes. Clinics in Perinatology, 2008, 35(2): 293-307.
- Shapiro-Mendoza, C.K., Tomashek, K.M., Kotelchuck, M., Barfield, W., Nannini, A., Weiss, J., Declercq, E. Effect of Late-Preterm Birth and Maternal Medical Conditions on Newborn Morbidity Risk. Pediatrics, 2008, 121(2): e223-32.
- Declercq, E., Cunningham, D.K., Johnson, C., Sakala, C. Mothers' Reports of Postpartum Pain Associated with Vaginal and Cesarean Deliveries: Results of a National Survey. Birth, 2008, 35(1): 16-24.
- Declercq, E., Chalmers, B. Mothers' Reports of Their Maternity Experiences in the USA and Canada. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Nov 2008, 26(4): 295-308.
- MacDorman, M.F., Declercq, E.M., Menacker, F., Malloy, M.H. Neonatal Mortality for Primary Cesarean and Vaginal Births to Low-Risk Women: Application of an Intention-to-Treat Model. Birth, 2008, 35(1): 3-8.
- Declercq, E., Caldwell, K., Hobbs, S.H., Guyer, B. The Changing Pattern of Doctoral Education in Public Health from 1985 to 2006 and the Challenge of Doctoral Training for Practice and Leadership. AJPH, Sep 2008, 98(9): 1565-9.
- Mayberry, L.J., Horowitz, J.A., Declercq, E. Depression Symptom Prevalence and Demographic Risk Factors among U.S. Women During the First 2 Years Postpartum. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs, Nov 2007, 36(6): 542-9.
- Declercq, E., Sakala, C., Corry, M.P., Applebaum, S. Listening to Mothers II: Report of the Second National U.S. Survey of Women's Childbearing Experiences. J Perinat Educ., Fall 2007, 16(4): 15-7.
- Declercq, E.R., Barger, M., Cabral, H., Evans, S., Kotelchuck, M., Simon, C., Weiss, J., Heffner, L. Maternal Outcomes Associated with Planned Primary Cesareans Compared to Planned Vaginal Births. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2007, 109(3): 669-77.
- MacDorman, M.F., Declercq, E., Menacker, F., Malloy, M.H. Neonatal Mortality for Low-Risk Women by Method of Delivery. Birth, 2007, 34(1): 101-2.
- Declercq, E. Trends in CNM Attended Births, 1990-2004. J of Midwifery & Women's Health, 2007, 52(1): 87-8.
- Menacker, F., Declercq, E., MacDorman, M.F. Cesarean Delivery: Background, Trends, and Epidemiology. Seminars in Perinatology, 2006, 30(5): 235-41.
- MacDorman, M.F., Declercq, E., Menacker, F., Malloy, M.H. Infant and Neonatal Mortality for Primary Cesarean and Vaginal Births to Women with No Indicated Risk,
- MacDorman, M.F., Declercq, E., Menacker, F., Malloy, M. Maternal Risk Profiles and the Shifting Primary Cesarean Rate, 1991-2001. AJPH, 2006, 96(5): 867-72.
- Declercq, E., Menacker, F., MacDorman, M.F. Rise in No Indicated Risk