Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39012423›Full record

ArticleMaternal and child health journal2025

Development and Unfolding of the Life Course Movement in the Field of Maternal and Child Health: An Oral History.

Alessandra N Bazzano, Cheri Pies, Michael C Lu, Padmini Parthasarathy, Amy Fine, Milton Kotelchuck

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Maternal and child health journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Response to Bernard Guyer's Letter to the Editor.Maternal and child health journal · 2026
    Article
  2. A Response to Bazzano et al., Oral History of Life Course.Maternal and child health journal · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Alessandra N BazzanoDepartment of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences; Center of Excellence in Maternal Child Health, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, USA. abazzano@tulane.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8299-2626
Cheri PiesUniversity of California Berkeley, Berkeley, USA.
Michael C LuUniversity of California Berkeley, Berkeley, USA.
Padmini ParthasarathySamya Strategies, Martinez, CA, USA.
Amy FineHealth Policy Program Consultant, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Milton KotelchuckHarvard Medical School, Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Academic Pediatrics Mass General Hospital for Children, Boston, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionA life course perspective in maternal, child, and family health allows for integrated exploration of outcomes, incorporating multifactorial determinants of health to interrogate sources of inequity and identify opportunities for intervention. This article explores the historical development, integration, and implications of the contemporary life course perspective in the field of maternal and child health (MCH), and particularly the people and events which institutionalized the framework as central to national and local MCH practice and research over the last decades.

methodsDrawing on an oral history approach, key leaders of the life course movement in MCH were interviewed. Lived experiences and personal recollections of six interviewees were recorded and synthesized using a narrative descriptive approach to portray the social ecology of the movement's origins.

resultsWe documented systematic efforts made in the first two decades of the 21st century to consciously promote life course through convening a National MCH Life Course Invitational Meeting, incorporating life course as a foundational framework for strategic planning at the Maternal Child Health Bureau, and development of tools and resources by MCH professional organizations. DISCUSSION: The integration of life course theory into the MCH field signified a major shift towards addressing protective and social factors, which aligns with the field's historical emphasis on social justice and rights-based approaches, and parallels the broader public health movement towards social determinants of health and the need to address structural racism. The ongoing relevance of the life course approach in promoting reproductive justice and addressing inequities in health underscores the historical importance of its adoption and use in the current mainstream of MCH research, policy, and practice.

Indexed as

Child HealthMaternal-Child Health ServicesMaternal HealthChildFemaleHistory, 20th CenturyHistory, 21st CenturyHumansSocial Determinants of HealthChild healthHistoryLife courseMaternal healthSocial determinants of health

Identifiers

PMID39012423
PMCPMC12443874

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.