Birth covers childbirth and perinatal care, and it covers them as a social event as much as a clinical one. A paper on shoulder dystocia and a paper on obstetric violence in Peru sit in the same volume without either looking out of place.《Birth》管分娩与围产期照护，既当临床事件看，也当社会事件看。一篇讲肩难产的论文与一篇讲秘鲁产科暴力的论文同在一卷，谁都不显得外行。
The readership is mixed by design. Midwives, obstetricians, nurses and medical sociologists all publish here, and the citation index lists the journal in nursing, in obstetrics and gynecology, and in pediatrics at once.读者群是故意做混的。助产士、产科医师、护士与医学社会学者都往这里投稿，引文索引把它同时列在护理、妇产科与儿科三个类目下。
Qualitative work is a large share of the contents, not a garnish. Twenty of the hundred most recent deposits carry the words experience, perception or perspective in the title.质性研究占的份量大，不是点缀。最近一百条存档里，有二十条的题名带经验、感受或看法这类词。
Population work carries the other half. Primary cesarean delivery in low-risk women across United States census regions, severe maternal morbidity in Michigan, cesarean rates in South Korea from 2007 to 2024.另一半是人群研究。美国各普查区低风险产妇的初次剖宫产，密歇根的重度孕产并发症，韩国 2007 到 2024 年的剖宫产率走势。
Policy is inside the remit. Medicaid privatisation and prenatal care use in Iowa, doula coverage under Medicaid, maternity leave and return to work in the Netherlands, all treated as perinatal care questions.政策在范围之内。艾奥瓦州医疗补助私有化与产前检查利用、医疗补助覆盖导乐、荷兰的产假与复职，都按围产期照护的问题来处理。
The journal looks outside the rich world routinely. A midwifery-led care model in Embu County, reproductive health of refugees in Switzerland, lactation support among Medicaid-insured mothers in Louisiana.它常把目光放到富裕世界之外。肯尼亚恩布郡的助产主导照护模式、瑞士难民的性与生殖健康、路易斯安那州医疗补助投保母亲的哺乳支持。
Comparative guideline work is a recurring form. One 2026 paper sets the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy guidelines of six countries side by side and reads the differences as policy rather than as error.跨国指南比较是反复出现的文体。2026 年有一篇把六个国家的高血压疾病孕期指南并排摆开，把差异读成政策，不读成错误。
Reviews run about fifteen a year. Scoping reviews dominate, and the questions they scope are service questions, such as vaginal birth after cesarean or oral intake during labour.综述一年十五篇上下。范围综述占多数，圈的是服务层面的问题，比如剖宫产后的阴道分娩，比如产程中的经口进食。
The journal prints comment. A 2026 issue carries a comment on a trial of supervised exercise in pregnancy and its effect on cesarean rates, which means the argument continues after publication.刊物登评论。2026 年某一期有一篇针对孕期监督运动试验与剖宫产率的评论，说明争论在发表之后继续。
Corrections are rare. One appeared in 2026 across ninety-seven records, a rate that fits a quarterly with a small annual output.更正很少。2026 年九十七条记录里只有一条，这个比例配得上一年发几十篇的季刊。
Production records enter the archive. Items titled Issue Information are deposited alongside research, so the table-of-contents furniture of a print issue has its own DOI.生产记录也进存档。题名写作 Issue Information 的条目与研究论文一起交存，纸本的目录页家具独立拿到 DOI。
There are four issues a volume. Volume 53 is the current one, and the 2026 deposits are spread over three numbered issues and seventy-four online-first items.一卷四期。现卷是第 53 卷，2026 年的存档摊在三个带号的期与 74 条在线优先条目上。
Annual output is small. Crossref shows 81 records for 2025 and 97 for 2026, against a journal impact factor file that counts 63 citable articles a year.年产量不大。Crossref 里 2025 年 81 条，2026 年 97 条，而影响因子表按一年 63 篇可引文章计。
Open access is hybrid. The 2025 file puts the gold share at 57.09 percent, which is high for a subscription journal and reflects funder mandates in maternal health.开放获取是混合模式。2025 年表里的金色占比 57.09%，对一本订阅刊来说偏高，与孕产领域资助方的强制要求有关。
The journal is not in the open access registry. It is a Wiley subscription title with an open access option, so there is no registry entry to check for review type or article charges.这本刊不在开放获取目录里。它是 Wiley 的订阅刊加开放获取选项，查评审类型与费用时没有登记条目可看。
Spelling follows British practice. Labour and paediatric appear in titles that are typeset in Massachusetts, which is a small editorial decision that has lasted decades.拼写走英式。「Labour」与「paediatric」出现在马萨诸塞州排版的题名里，这是个持续了几十年的小编辑决定。
History
The first volume is 1973 and it carried a different name. Birth and the Family Journal came out of Berkeley, California, four times a year, with the ISSN 0098-860X.第 1 卷是 1973 年，刊名不一样。当时叫《Birth and the Family Journal》，在加州伯克利出版，一年四期，ISSN 是 0098-860X。
The publisher then was a consumer health outfit. Medical Consumer Communications is on the imprint, which suggests the early readers were families reading about birth rather than clinicians managing it.当时的出版方是一家面向消费者的健康出版机构。出版页上写着 Medical Consumer Communications，看得出早期读者是读分娩的家属，不是管分娩的医生。
The opening issues look like a magazine. Volume 1 number 1 carries a paper on prenatal diagnosis of genetic defects, a calendar of important events, and a piece on the pediatrician and infant atherosclerosis.头几期像杂志。第 1 卷第 1 期里有产前诊断遗传缺陷的论文，有一页重要活动日历，还有一篇讲儿科医师与婴儿动脉粥样硬化的文章。
The name changed in 1982. The library record for Birth begins at volume 9, number 1, spring 1982, and the earlier title's record closes in 1981, so the two entries meet at the boundary.1982 年改名。现名的图书馆记录从第 9 卷第 1 期算起，1982 年春，旧名的记录止于 1981 年，两条记录在边界上接住。
Volume numbering was never restarted. Volume 1 of the old title in 1973 and volume 9 of the new one in 1982 are nine years apart, which is exactly the number of volumes in between.卷号没有从头数。旧名 1973 年的第 1 卷与新名 1982 年的第 9 卷相隔九年，中间正好是九卷。
MEDLINE joined at the rename. The record dates coverage from volume 9, number 1 of spring 1982, in full rather than selectively, and it has stayed current since.MEDLINE 在改名那一年接上。记录把收录起点定在 1982 年春的第 9 卷第 1 期，全量收录不是选摘，此后一直是现刊。
A second index ran alongside for eighteen years. International Nursing Index carried it from the same 1982 issue to volume 27 number 1 in March 2000, when that index closed.另有一家索引并行跑了十八年。《国际护理索引》从同一期 1982 年开始收，收到 2000 年 3 月的第 27 卷第 1 期，此后该索引停办。
The imprint moved east. The first record gives Berkeley, California, and the current one gives Malden, Massachusetts from March 2004, which tracks the move from a small publisher to Blackwell.出版地往东搬了。早期记录写加州伯克利，现记录写马萨诸塞州马尔登，起点标 2004 年 3 月，这条线与从小出版方转到 Blackwell 的路径对得上。
Wiley took it over through a merger. Blackwell and Wiley combined in 2007, and the publisher line on the journal became Wiley-Blackwell without any change to the editorial address.Wiley 经合并接手。Blackwell 与 Wiley 在 2007 年合并，刊上的出版方写成 Wiley-Blackwell，编辑部地址没有跟着变。
The archive is 3,748 records deep. Deposits begin with volume 1 of 1973, which makes this the only title in the group whose machine-readable record covers its entire life.存档有 3,748 条。交存从 1973 年的第 1 卷开始，这一组里只有它的机读记录覆盖了全部刊龄。
Volume 53 is current. Fifty-two volumes were closed between 1973 and 2025, one a year, four issues each.现卷是第 53 卷。1973 到 2025 年间封了五十二卷，一年一卷，每卷四期。
The volume label drifts from the calendar. The 2024 records sit in volumes 51 and 52, the 2025 records in 52 and 53, and the 2026 records are mostly still unassigned.卷号与日历年错位。2024 年的记录落在第 51 与 52 卷，2025 年的落在 52 与 53 卷，2026 年的多数还没归卷。
Three categories appear in the ranking. Nursing at 62 of 194, obstetrics and gynecology at 60 of 143, pediatrics at 55 of 190, all second quartile, with an impact factor of 2.3.排名里出现三个类目。护理 194 种里第 62，妇产科 143 种里第 60，儿科 190 种里第 55，全在第二区，影响因子 2.3。
Five impact factors read 3.689, 3.081, 2.8, 2.5 and 2.3. Five consecutive declines from a peak that was already four years old when it was printed.五个影响因子依次是 3.689、3.081、2.8、2.5、2.3。连降五年，而那个高点是印出来时就已有四年旧账的数字。
The five-year figure is 3.2 against an annual 2.3. A journal whose archive outperforms its recent issues is living on a body of work rather than on the current volume.五年值 3.2，年值 2.3。旧文比新文更值钱的刊物，靠的是一批积累下来的工作，不是当年这一卷。
Citation volume is modest and the half-life is eight years. 3,311 citations to 63 articles, an immediacy index of 0.2, which is what a slow, argument-driven field looks like in numbers.被引体量不大，半衰期八年。3,311 次引用对 63 篇文章，即年指标 0.2，一个慢热的、以争论推进的领域，数字就长这样。
Editors
The journal runs through the publisher's platform. Wiley hosts submission and production, the editorial office sits outside it, and the two are connected by a fixed schedule of four issues.刊物跑在出版方的平台上。Wiley 管投稿与生产，编辑部在平台之外，两头由一个一年四期的固定日程连起来。
Three audiences mean three referee pools. A paper on labour support is read by a midwife, a paper on cesarean outcomes by an obstetrician, and a paper on obstetric violence by neither without a sociologist.三种读者就是三个审稿人池。讲产程支持的稿子由助产士读，讲剖宫产结局的由产科医师读，讲产科暴力的两位都读不下来，得加一位社会学的人。
Qualitative papers need a qualitative standard. The journal's share of interview and focus group studies means reviewers are asked about sampling, reflexivity and coding rather than about p values.质性论文得按质性标准审。访谈与焦点小组研究占的份量，意味着审稿人被问的是抽样、反思性与编码，不是 p 值。
The social science citation listing matters editorially. A title indexed in both science and social science editions can publish work that a purely clinical journal would send elsewhere.社会科学引文索引的收录在编辑上有意义。同时被科学与社会科学两个版本收录的刊物，能登纯临床刊会转走的稿子。
Output is small enough to edit closely. Sixty-three citable articles a year means the desk can read every submission rather than sampling, and the argument in each paper can be worked on rather than waved through.产量小到可以细编。一年六十三篇可引文章，编辑部能逐篇读，不必抽样，每篇的论证可以被改，不必放行。
Policy papers need health services reviewers. An analysis of Medicaid privatisation is not a clinical trial, and the referee has to know how administrative data behaves.政策论文要卫生服务研究的审稿人。医疗补助私有化的分析不是临床试验，审稿人得懂行政数据会怎么出错。
Guideline comparisons are edited as arguments. A six-country comparison of hypertensive disorders guidance invites disagreement about what counts as evidence, and the desk has to let that disagreement stand.指南比较按论证来编。六国妊娠高血压指南的对比，会引出什么算证据的争论，编辑部得让这个争论留在纸上。
Comment items keep the argument open. A comment on a pregnancy exercise trial is published as a short piece with the original authors given a reply, which is a cheap way to keep a field honest.评论让争论不关门。针对孕期运动试验的评论以短文刊出，原作者有回复的机会，这是让一个领域保持诚实的便宜办法。
Production records are edited too. Issue Information items are deposited with the rest, so even the masthead and the contents page pass through the DOI machine.生产记录也要编。Issue Information 条目与其他文章一起交存，连刊头与目录页都过一遍 DOI 机器。
The vocabulary is not clinical. Obstetric violence, reproductive injustice and birth trauma are terms from public health and law, and an editor who only knows obstetrics cannot referee them.用词不是临床的。产科暴力、生殖不义、分娩创伤这些词来自公共卫生与法学，只懂产科的编辑判不了。
The volume drift is tolerated rather than fixed. Citations that say volume 52 for a 2024 paper are not wrong, and the editors live with a label that lags the year by a few months.卷号错位是被容忍的，不是被修好的。把 2024 年的论文引成第 52 卷并不算错，编辑接受这个比年份慢几个月的标签。
A long half-life rewards the unfashionable. Work that will be cited in eight years is usually work that asked a durable question, and the desk steers toward those questions rather than toward the news.半衰期长，奖励的是不时髦的东西。八年后还被引的工作，通常问的是经得住时间的问题，编辑部往这类问题上引，不往新闻上引。