Health and Well‐Being of Childbearing Women in Rural and Urban Contexts

Abstract

As part of the national focus on women's health issues, it is important to identify those health-related characteristics of rural women that distinguish them from women living in urban settings. The aim of this study was to compare rural and urban childbearing women on socioeconomic characteristics, perceived stress, health-related practices, illness symptoms, parenting confidence, and body weight. One hundred sixty-five midwestern women responded to a health survey sent to them six months after childbirth. Rural women were younger and less educationally and economically advantaged compared to urban women. Before adjusting for these differences, rural women were less self-actualized, more interpersonally isolated, and reported less healthy nutrition than urban women. These differences disappeared when socioeconomic differences were adjusted. Rural and urban mothers did not differ in most other areas, including perceived stress, parenting confidence, and body weight. Compared to national norms, the perceived stress levels of both rural and urban mothers were significantly higher than a probability sample of U.S. women. Findings support the role of socioeconomic factors as contributing to risk of poor health promotion among rural childbearing women.

Perceived stress and emotional social support among women who are denied or receive abortions in the United States: a prospective cohort study

“…Unwanted pregnancy can be a stressful experience for any woman [22], but being denied an abortion may exacerbate stress, making a woman feel disempowered or unable to cope with the stressor [11,45]. Preparing to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term, managing pregnancy itself, and potentially searching for another abortion provider may also contribute to stress [45].…”

“…Previous research on stress and pregnancy provides little insight into the outcomes after unwanted pregnancy over time, as few studies compare parents and non-parents [22] and most do not consider the wantedness of the pregnancy [48]. However, early motherhood is a stressful period [49], perhaps more so if the baby is the result of an unwanted pregnancy [21].…”

“…There is some evidence that women with unwanted pregnancies have higher perceived stress during pregnancy than women with wanted or mistimed pregnancies [21]. The postpartum period can also be a stressful time for women [22]. …”

Food provisioning strategies, food insecurity, and stress in an economically vulnerable community: the Northern Cheyenne case

“…For example, studies of women's health and mental health show that both are adversely affected by food insecurity (Siefert et al 2004;Walker et al 1994) while other research confirms the relationship of food insufficiency to depression and other poor health outcomes (Wu and Schimmele 2005;Vozoris and Tarasuk 2003;Tarasuk and Maclean 1990). Adding to recent research on American Indian populations (Bliss 2004;Pickering 2000;Ward and Whiting 2006;Whiting et al 2005), our recent analyses (Whiting and Ward 2007) support Wu and Schimmele's (2005) findings that food insufficiency is an important independent source of stress in low-income, minority populations.…”

Barriers and Health Behaviors of Rural and Urban Persons with MS

“…Instead, it seems to have been assumed that people know what to do and have the ability and resources to carry out the necessary behaviors. 26,27 Rural environments also have fewer health care providers and less access to advanced medical technologies and information. Becker, Stuifbergen, and Sands found that among persons with disabilities, higher scores on a measure of barriers to health-promoting activities were negatively associated with general self-efficacy (r=-.48), perceived health status (r=-.29), and the likelihood of engaging in health-promoting behaviors (r=-.29).…”