1 in 3 US Counties Lack Maternity Care
A staggering 34.6% of US counties are maternity care deserts, leaving 5.8 million women without access to obstetric care, according to a new March of Dimes report
More than one third of US counties are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no hospitals or birth centers with obstetric care and no practicing obstetric clinicians. According to a report by the March of Dimes, 34.6% of US counties are maternity care deserts, with more than half of US counties lacking a hospital with labor and delivery services.
The report found that 5.8 million women currently live in counties without full access to maternity care. This lack of access to maternity care is particularly pronounced in rural areas, where 57.9% of counties don’t have access to an obstetrician clinician, compared to 19.4% of urban counties.
The March of Dimes report also found that 35.9% of US counties don’t have a practicing obstetrician clinician. Workforce shortages are driving this disparity, with recruiting and retaining clinicians in rural areas being a significant challenge.
The situation is likely to worsen due to recent policy changes, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is expected to dramatically cut payments to Medicaid and introduce burdens that make it more difficult for people to stay on Medicaid. This could further exacerbate the patterns of maternity care deserts, which tend to be concentrated in rural communities.
## What it means The lack of access to maternity care has significant consequences for expecting mothers, particularly in rural or under-served areas. Conditions related to maternity care deserts impact nearly 370,000 births annually, according to the report.
## Why it matters Maternity care deserts are not naturally occurring, but rather the result of policy decisions and longstanding underinvestment in maternity care infrastructure. The March of Dimes report emphasizes that individuals in these communities are increasingly required to navigate pregnancy and childbirth with fewer local resources and greater travel burdens.
The report highlights the need for strengthening rural training pipelines and addressing workforce shortages to improve access to maternity care. By understanding the scope of the problem and its causes, policymakers and healthcare providers can work towards creating a more equitable and accessible maternity care system for all women in the US.
