Over 500 hospitals have closed their labor and delivery departments since 2010, according to a large new study, leaving most rural hospitals and more than a third of urban hospitals without obstetric care.
We're more than a decade into a severe maternal mortality crisis in the United States, and access to hospital-based maternity care has continued to decline over that entire time period.
States with abortion bans have experienced a sharp decline in their obstetrician workforce, contributing to the challenges in providing maternity care.
Other research from Dr. Kozhimannil and her colleagues has found that the closures of rural maternity wards can lead to an increase in births in emergency rooms or outside of hospitals.
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