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Laura Attanasio

Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Management

Involvement: 

School or College: 

School of Public Health and Health Sciences

Research: 

Laura Attanasio, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Policy. Her research addresses issues of quality, equity and decision making in perinatal healthcare. Her recent work has examined preferences and attitudes around birth mode, including for women with prior cesarean births, as well as healthcare utilization in the postpartum period.

Addressing the persistently high rates of severe maternal morbidity among women of color is an urgent public health priority. Nearly a third of US births occur via cesarean; for people giving birth who have had a prior cesarean, maternal morbidity rates are highest among those who have an unplanned repeat cesarean.  There is a higher risk of unplanned cesarean delivery among Black and Latina women, but little is known about why this occurs.

Dr. Attanasio plans to investigate reasons for racial and ethnic disparities in chances of vaginal birth after cesarean for women with a prior cesarean delivery who do not have a planned repeat cesarean. The goal of this research is to contribute to a better understanding of the circumstances associated with unplanned cesarean delivery for women with a prior cesarean in order to identify potential interventions to improve the quality of care for this population.