Recent publications

Maternal mental health in California: progress and opportunities

Brief, April 2026

Supporting the Mental Health of California Mothers

Report, March 2026

Focusing on race and racism is critical to advancing health justice

Journal article, March 2026

Improving Black maternal health through person-centered care

Data brief, February 2026

Measure racism, not just race: recommendations for scientific practice

Journal article, February 2026

Writing about health inequality: recommendations for accurate and impactful presentation of evidence

Journal article, September 2025

Feeling heard and listened to by providers during delivery

Data book, July 2025

Health inequalities, disparities, equity: what’s in a name?

Journal article, June 2025

African immigrants' favorable preterm birth rates challenge genetic etiology of the Black-White disparity in preterm birth 

Journal article, January 2024

Food insecurity and housing instability early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Data brief, January 2024

Income loss, job loss, and childcare problems early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Data brief, January 2024

Mental health during and after pregnancy early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Data brief, January 2024

Centering Black Mothers in California

Report, September 2023

The Black-White disparity in preterm birth: race or racism?

Policy paper, April 2023

The Social Determinants of Health Disparities

Book, February 2023

Advancing Health Equity in Rural America

RWJF Report, June 2022

Health equity: Everyone Counts

RWJF Report, May 2022

Systemic Racism and Health Equity

RWJF Report, January 2022

Severe maternal hardships are associated with food insecurity among low-income/lower-income women during pregnancy: results from the 2012-2014 California Maternal Infant Health Assessment

Journal article, February 2022

What Can the Health Care Sector Do to Advance Health Equity?

Report, November 2019

California American Indian/Alaska Native Maternal and Infant Health Status Report

Report, June 2019

Mass Incarceration Threatens Health Equity in America

RWJF Report, December 2018

Wealth Matters for Health Equity

RWJF Report, September 2018

Early Childhood is Critical to Health Equity

RWJF Report, May 2018

What Is Health Equity?

RWJF Report, May 2017

Social and environmental factors related to smoking cessation among mothers: findings from the Geographic Research on Wellbeing (GROW) Study

Journal article, November 2015

Racial/ethnic disparities in depressive symptoms among pregnant women vary by income and neighborhood poverty

Journal article, July 2015

The role of socioeconomic factors in Black-White disparities in preterm birth

Journal article, March 2015

Beyond the cross-sectional: Neighborhood poverty histories and preterm birth

Journal article, November 2014

The social determinants of health: it's time to consider the causes of the causes

Journal article, January 2014

What are health disparities and health equity? We need to be clear

Journal article, January 2014

What is health equity: and how does a life-course approach take us further toward it?

Journal article, February 2013

U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health

Report, 2013

Limited socioeconomic opportunities and Latina teen childbearing: a qualitative study of family and structural factors affecting future expectations

Journal article, June 2012

Health impact assessment: necessary but not sufficient for healthy public policy

Journal article, June 2012

Health inequalities by class and race in the US: what can we learn from the patterns?

Journal article, January 2012

Health disparities and health equity: The issue is justice

Journal article, November 2011

Where health disparities begin: The role of social and economic determinants - and why current policies may make matters worse

Journal article, October 2011

Accumulating knowledge on the social determinants of health and infectious disease

Journal article, September 2011

Assessing alternative measures of wealth in health research

Journal article, May 2011

Socioeconomic factors and health risk behaviors among adolescents

Journal article, January 2011

When do we know enough to recommend action on the social determinants of health?

Journal article, January 2011

Broadening the focus: The need to address the social determinants of health

Journal article, January 2011

The social determinants of health: Coming of age

Journal article, November 2010

Social conditions, health equity, and human rights

Journal article, December 2010

Father's education: an independent marker of risk for preterm birth

Journal article, November 2010

Most pregnant women in California do not receive dental care: findings from a population-based study

Journal article, November 2010

Neighborhood poverty, aspirations and expectations, and initiation of sex

Journal article, October 2010

Socioeconomic disparities in adverse birth outcomes: A systematic review

Journal article, September 2010

Socioeconomic disparities in health in the United States: What the patterns tell us

Journal article, April 2010

Factors associated with delayed childbearing: From the voices of expectant Latina adults and teens in California

Journal article, January 2010

For a full list of our publications, click here to download. 

CDPH Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Data Dashboards

To view the dashboards, click here.