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.
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