Navigate the healthcare industry
Healthcare Brew covers pharmaceutical developments, health startups, the latest tech, and how it impacts hospitals and providers to keep administrators and providers informed.
Birthing care at hospitals is dwindling in the US, as 530 hospitals have closed their obstetrics units between 2010 and 2022.
That’s according to a new study out of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health published in JAMA on December 4.
In 2010, 35.2% (1,679 out of 4,768) of all hospitals in the US didn’t have obstetrics, but by 2022, that shot up to 42.4% (1,966 out of 4,639), with the worst effects felt in rural communities, according to the study.
“Rural hospitals not only started with fewer obstetric services but also experienced more severe losses over time, leaving rural residents with fewer options and longer distances to travel—often at times when patients are in urgent need of timely care,” lead author Katy Kozhimannil said in a December 4 press release.
This research followed a September study from the nonprofit March of Dimes that found 35% of US counties are considered maternal health deserts. Meanwhile, maternal morbidity has increased since 2018, according to the CDC, with Black patients dying at higher rates (49.5 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 19 deaths per 1,000 live births for white patients in 2022).
Diving deeper. The research team used an algorithm to analyze data between 2010 and 2022 from the American Hospital Association’s annual surveys and Centers Medicare and Medicaid Services Provider of Services file for obstetric services at nearly 5,000 hospitals around the US.
According to the study, research from 2010 reported that 29.7% (836 of 2,813) of urban hospitals and 43.1% (843 of 1,955) of rural hospitals didn’t have birthing care.
While 138 more birthing units opened from 2010 to 2022—112 in urban and 26 in rural areas—the increase in closures canceled them out.
Over that same time period, 537 hospitals closed their birthing units—299 urban and 238 rural closures—resulting in 35.7% (977 of 2,779) of urban hospitals and 52.4% (957 of 1,860) of rural hospitals unable to serve birthing patients by 2022.
“Without targeted resources and policy interventions focused on equitable access to maternity care for all, including people of color and geographically-isolated folks, this public health crisis will only get worse,” Kozhimannil said in the release.