Maternal and Newborn Care During Disasters: Thinking Outside the Hospital Paradigm Jeanne Pfeiffer, RN, MPH, CIC a, * , Melissa D. Avery, PhD, CNM, FACNM a , Mary Benbenek, MS, RN, FNP, PNP a , Robbie Prepas, CNM, MN, JD b , Lisa Summers, CNM, MSN, DrPH c , Cecilia M. Wachdorf, PhD, CNM a , Carol O’Boyle, PhD, RN a a School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 308 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA b Nurse Practitioner Program, UCLA-Harbor Medical Center, 740 Oak Street, Laguna Beach, CA 92651, USA c American College of Nurse Midwives, 1220 Noyes Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA During and immediately following public health disasters, primary em- phasis is placed on meeting the immediate needs of disaster victims. These include food, shelter, decontamination, trauma care, antibiotics, or respira- tory support, depending on the type of disaster. Routine health care needs of vulnerable populations may not be recognized or specifically addressed in planning. Pregnant women, new mothers, and their infants constitute such vulnerable populations that warrant predisaster planning. In 2005 following Hurricane Katrina, The Washington Post reported that 125 critically ill newborn babies and 154 pregnant women were evacuated to Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge without their medical records [1]. This project was supported under the Minnesota Emergency Readiness Education and Training Program funded by a grant from the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response under Health and Human Services. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: pfeif052@umn.edu (J. Pfeiffer). 0029-6465/08/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cnur.2008.04.008 nursing.theclinics.com Nurs Clin N Am 43 (2008) 449–467