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About 35% of US counties don’t have a single birthing facility or obstetric clinician (aka maternity care deserts), according to the 2024 Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts report from March of Dimes, a nonprofit that works to support the health of mothers and babies.
The report, released on September 10, found that half of counties in the US don’t have a hospital with obstetric care services. Additionally, in 1,104 of the total 3,100+ counties in the US, there aren’t any birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians. About 2.3 million women of reproductive age, 15–44, live in these counties, according to the report, and gave birth to more than 150,000 babies in 2022.
“Our most comprehensive analysis to date confirms that women living in maternity care deserts and counties with low access to care have poorer health before pregnancy, receive less prenatal care, and experience higher rates of preterm birth,” the report read. “These findings affirm that US systems, policies, and environments are failing moms and babies.”
Data deep dive. It also takes patients in these counties more time to get to a hospital.
Without traffic, birthing people travel an average of 16 minutes to get to the nearest hospital with birthing services. But for rural patients, that average time jumps to 26 minutes; for maternity care desert residents, it can extend up to 38 minutes, according to the report. The highest travel times were found in Alaska, West Virginia, Wyoming, Hawaii, and Montana.
March of Dimes also reported that a significant number of obstetric units closed—107, to be exact, or one in every 25—in 2021 and 2022.
Common reasons for the closures, according to the report, were low birth volumes, low reimbursement rates from health plans, and staffing shortages.
Of the birthing centers that still exist, the report stated that about 70% are located in the same 10 states: Washington, California, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Florida, Virginia, and Wisconsin.