The Giving Voice to Mothers – US Study was a national study that examined how race, ethnicity, and place of birth interact with the experience of receiving maternity care in the United States.

Women from five communities of color, and women who planned to give birth at home or in a birth center, developed a survey with over 200 questions describing their experiences of pregnancy, birth, prenatal and newborn care. These women decided what to study, designed the questions, and recruited participants. To ensure rigor and ethical conduct in all aspects of the research, they collaborated with the Birth Place Lab team. No previous study has used a community-based participatory method to study maternity care. We believe that these voices could transform how we deliver care, and who delivers care to those most in need.

The survey questions included our own measures: Mothers on Respect Index, Mothers Autonomy and Decision Making Scale, the Mistreatment by Care Providers in Childbirth Indicators, as well as an adapted Perceptions of Racism Scale. The early results from this study have been presented at several national and international conferences and a summary of the results is available below. The team is creating a report that will be available online, however to remain true to the type of research we are committed to we are revisiting the work with community partners before we share it publicly.

We continue to work with our partners to host meetings where community members can review the results and decide with us who to tell the story to and how to tell the story.