Does big data have a role to play in physiologic birth research?: The case for a critical, precision-midwifery, all data framework
Dr Melissa Cheyney
Oregon State University, USA
Melissa Cheyney PhD CPM LDM is Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Anthropology at Oregon State University (OSU) with additional appointments in Public Health and Women Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is also a Licensed Midwife in active practice, and the Chair of the Division of Research for the Midwives Alliance of North America where she directs the MANA Statistics Project. Dr. Cheyney currently directs the International Reproductive Health Laboratory at Oregon State University where she serves as the primary investigator more than 20 maternal and infant health-related research projects in nine countries. She is the author of an ethnography entitled Born at Home along with dozens of peer-reviewed articles that examine the cultural beliefs and clinical outcomes associated with midwife-led birth at home in the United States. She is the mother of a daughter born at home on International Day of the Midwife in 2009.
Abstract
The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of the growth of big data as a field, and to begin to examine some of the ways that big data may be used to study midwifery care and physiologic labor and birth with... [ view full abstract ]
The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of the growth of big data as a field, and to begin to examine some of the ways that big data may be used to study midwifery care and physiologic labor and birth with the ultimate goal of reducing preventable maternal and newborn death and suffering globally. How do we implement skilled-midwifery-care-for-all frameworks across diverse cultural and political-economic settings characterized by unique and complex national health care systems? What if big data could be used to help insure that within particular cultural settings, the right amount of care were offered at the right time, and delivered in a manner that respects, protects, and promotes human rights? During this presentation, Dr. Cheyney argues for a merging of two critical conversations that can inform global maternity care: big data science and research priority setting. Merging existing and forming data sets that contain data on planned place of birth, maternal risk profiles, provider type, key interventions, models and outcomes of care, and systems integration could enable researchers to use big data to build models with portable applications that optimize the use of limited clinical resources. While even the most robust predictive models cannot supplant ethnographic context or individual-level choice, they may be able to inform systems-level allocation of resources and provider-patient level decision-making around place of birth and level of care in a way that brings us closer to a model of precision midwifery that allows for the right amount of care at the right time in the right way.
Session
KN-4 » Keynote - Dr Melissa Cheyney (09:30 - Tuesday, 3rd October, The Grange View)
