Maternal Adaptive Capacity: A Strengths-Based Theory to Guide Maternal Health Research

The United States is experiencing a rise in maternal morbidity and mortality that disproportionately affects marginalized groups. Maternal health research is often designed through a lens of deficit, which perpetuates bias and negatively affects care. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of the theory of maternal adaptive capacity, a strengths-based approach to maternal health research that has the potential to promote new discovery in research, reduce biases, empower individuals and improve health outcomes. Walker and Avant's approach to theory derivation is applied to the framework of vulnerability to climate change, a theory commonly used in environmental research. In this derivation the authors explore the parallels between the concept of adaptive capacity related to climate change and maternal health. The new theory of maternal adaptive capacity should be applied and tested in various research modalities to confirm its utility.