Lucinda Canty
Director, Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program
Associate Professor
Focusing on maternal health equity and reproductive justice; conducting community‑engaged research on Black maternal health, severe maternal morbidity, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; and employing storytelling and arts‑based methods in research and nursing education.
Contact details
Location
Skinner Hall
651 N Pleasant St
Amherst, MA 01003
United States
About
Lucinda Canty, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, is an associate professor and director of the Seedworks Health Equity Program at the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing.
Dr. Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, researcher, historian, and nationally recognized maternal health expert. With more than 30 years of experience in reproductive health care, her scholarship focuses on addressing racial disparities in maternal health outcomes, particularly among Black women and other historically marginalized populations.
Dr. Canty’s research program examines the intersections of clinical care, structural inequities, and social determinants of health that contribute to severe maternal morbidity, postpartum mental health, perinatal loss, and inequities in access to quality maternal healthcare. Her work utilizes qualitative, mixed-methods, and community-engaged approaches to centering the lived experiences of Black women and families while advancing culturally responsive and prevention-focused models of care.
She has led interdisciplinary collaborations across nursing, engineering, public health, and psychology, including studies examining transportation barriers to prenatal care, perinatal loss, and the impact of work and environmental stressors on pregnancy and postpartum well-being. Her work has contributed to national conversations on maternal health equity, reproductive justice, and healthcare accountability.
Dr. Canty is also the founder and director of Lucinda’s House, a community-based initiative that promotes maternal health equity through education, advocacy, storytelling, and community partnership. Integrating scholarship, history, visual arts, and lived experience, she develops innovative approaches that bridge research, clinical practice, and community healing. Her work reflects a deep commitment to transforming maternal healthcare, mentoring future nurses, midwives, and scholars, and advancing health equity through research and action.
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