Access to maternity care is decreasing in the parts of the U.S. that need it the most, affecting nearly 7 million women of childbearing age and some 500,000 babies.
That's according to a report released Tuesday by March of Dimes, a nonprofit focused on maternal and infant health. It finds that 36% of counties nationwide — largely in the Midwest and South — constitute "maternity care deserts," meaning they have no obstetric hospitals or birth centers and no obstetric providers.
It paints a slightly grimmer picture than the organization's last such report, which was released in 2020. Five percent of counties have a worse designation this time around, and there's been a 2% increase in counties classified as maternity care deserts — accounting for some 15,933 women living in more than 1,000 counties.
March of Dimes says these changes are driven primarily by the loss of obstetric providers and hospital services within counties, as a result of financial and logistical challenges including the COVID pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning a large study into potential connections...
Australia's most prolific blood and plasma donor, James Harrison, has died at age 88. Known as...
A bill that would have required women seeking medication abortions to get ultrasounds has been vetoed...
The Philadelphia school district will reportedly ignore a rule directing schools to ban transgender athletes from...
