Her primary research concentration is in maternal health. She has approached this topic from a public health perspective in the domestic and global context, exploring factors that influence maternal mortality and cesarean delivery rates. Themes of her research include women’s childbirth beliefs and health seeking behaviors; the influence of social and cultural factors on birth outcomes; and the influence of the nursing profession on interventions and outcomes in childbirth. She is currently investigating how to measure the influence of labor and delivery nurses on birth outcomes and the factors that shape their practice patterns. The goals of her program of research are to support physiologic labor and birth in childbearing women and to improve the quality and equity of maternity care services.