Boston University School of Public Health

Gene Declercq combines formal training in political science with almost twenty years of experience as a certified childbirth educator to examine policy and practice related to childbirth in the US and abroad. The most recent example is his current research examining cesarean section in the US as part of his work as a Robert Wood Johnson-funded Health Policy Investigator. He has served as lead author of two national studies of women's experiences in childbirth entitled Listening to Mothers. He's published numerous research articles and is (very gradually) working on a book on cesarean childbirth. He was a technical advisor to the film documentary, The Business of Being Born. He's also been active in a variety of public health projects in his hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts, including immunization and lead poisoning prevention efforts and is currently involved in a community-wide oral health campaign that includes developing St. Luke's Dental Clinic to serve those without access to care. He has authored two editions of the report, The Health of the Merrimack Valley, which examined health status in 24 Massachusetts communities. As an educator, he is a past president of the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health and has been a recipient of the Norman Scotch Award for outstanding teaching at BUSPH. He currently serves as the BUSPH Assistant Dean for Doctoral Education, directing a collaborative effort that led to a new Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) Program at BUSPH. He also serves as co-chair of the Steering Committee for the DrPH Subcommittee of the Association of Schools of Public Health.

Read stories about Gene Declercq:

• Declercq Examines Patterns of Doctoral Education in Public Health 
• New Study Finds Hospital Practices Strongly Impact Breastfeeding Rates

Declercq ER, Labbok M, O'Hara M, Sakala C. The Relationship of Hospital Practices to Women's Likelihood of Fulfilling their Intention to Exclusively Breastfeed. American Journal of Public Health. 2009. 99 (5): 929-935.

Declercq ER, Chalmers B. Mothers' Reports of their Maternity Experiences in the USA and Canada. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 2008; 26 (4): 295-308.

Declercq ER, Caldwell K, Hobbs SH, Guyer B. The Changing Pattern of Doctoral Education in Public Health 1985-2006 and the Challenge of Doctoral Training for Practice and Leadership. American Journal of Public Health. 2008. (forthcoming)MacDorman MF, Declercq ER, Menacker F, Malloy MH. Infant and Neonatal Mortality for Primary Cesarean and Vaginal Births to Low Risk Women: Application of an "Intention to Treat" Model. Birth. 2008; 35: (in press).

MacDorman MF, Menacker F, Declercq ER. Cesarean Birth in the United States:  Epidemiology, Trends and Outcomes. Clinics in Perinatology. 2008; 35: (in press)

Declercq ER, Cunningham DK, Johnson C, Sakala C. Mothers' Reports of Postpartum Pain Associated with Vaginal and Cesarean Deliveries: Results of a National Survey. Birth. 2008; 35: (in press).

Declercq ER, Barger M, Cabral H, Evans S, Kotelchuck M, Simon C, Weiss J, Heffner L. Maternal Outcomes Associated with Planned Primary Cesareans Compared to Planned Vaginal Births. Obstet Gynecol. 2007.109: 669-677.

Declercq ER. Trends in CNM Attended Births, 1990-2004. Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health. 2007. 52 (1):87-88.

MacDorman M, Declercq ER, Menacker F, Malloy M. Infant and Neonatal Mortality for Primary Cesarean and Vaginal Births to Women with "No Indicated Risk," United States, 1998-2001 Birth Cohorts. Birth. 2006. 33 (3): 175-182. Chosen by Science Magazine as one of the 100 most important science stories (47^th) in the U.S. for 2006.

Declercq ER, Menacker F, MacDorman M. Maternal Risk Profiles and the Shifting Primary Cesarean Rate, 1991-2002. American Journal of Public Health. 2006; 96:867-72. (online 3/29/06).

Declercq ER, Menacker F, MacDorman M. The rise in "no indicated risk" primary caesareans in the US, 1991-2001. British Medical Journal, 2005;330;71-72. (online 11/19/04).

Declercq ER. The new MCH student.: Why can't they be like we were? Maternal and Child Health Journal 2003; 7 (4):267-269.

Reports, Book Chapters

Declercq ER, Stotland N. Home Birth. In UpToDate, Rose, BD (Ed), UpToDate, Waltham, MA, 2008. 

Declercq ER, Norsigian J. The folly of the one percent policy. Op-ed. Boston Globe. August 6, 2007. p.11. 

Declercq ER, Sakala C, Corry M, Applebaum S. Listening to Mothers II. (New York: Childbirth Connection, October, 2006)

Declercq ER, Norsigian J. Mothers aren't behind a vogue for caesareans. Op-ed. Boston Globe. April 3, 2006.

Declercq ER, Gouveia-Vigeant T.  Oral Health Needs Assessment Lawrence, Massachusetts. Jan. 2006

Declercq ER with Sharma P. The Health of the Merrimack Valley, 2003: Health Status in 24 Massachusetts Communities. Lawrence: Northeast Center for Healthy Communities. March, 2003. Available online at: http://www.nc4hc.org/HMVR2003/.

Declercq ER, Sakala C, Corry M, Applebaum S, Risher P. Listening to Mothers: Report of the First National U.S. Survey of Women's Childbearing Experiences. New York: Maternity Center Association, 2002. Available online at: http://www.maternitywise.org/listeningtomothers.

Raymond de Vries, Sirpa Wrede, Edwin van Teijlingen, Cecilia Benoit, Eugene Declercq. Making Maternity Care: The Consequences of Culture for Health Care Systems. in Henk Vinken, Joseph Soeters & Peter Ester. Comparing Cultures. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill. 2004.