Project Categories

Prenatal Care: Wise or Wasteful?

Award Year: 2006 Investigator: John Lantos, Diane Lauderdale
What exactly is prenatal care and why doesn't it seem to work? After two decades of investment, advocacy, and research, more women are getting prenatal care than ever and rates of preterm birth continue to rise. Co-investigators John Lantos, M.D. and Diane S. Lauderdale, Ph.D. reject the traditional view of prenatal care as a preventive intervention that prevents preterm birth.

Public Interest and Private Policy: The Cesarean Imperative in U.S. Maternity Care

Award Year: 2004 Investigator: Eugene Declercq
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.

Fetal Personhood: The Raw Edge of Obstetrical Practice and Ethics

Award Year: 2003 Investigator: Elizabeth Armstrong
For her Investigator Award project, Fetal Personhood: The Raw Edge of Obstetrical Practice and Ethics, Dr. Elizabeth Armstrong examines the controversial notion of the fetus as person and the implications of this concept for pregnant women and the doctors who care for them.