Maternal care waning in rural and urban hospitals

A new study published in Health Affairs shows that in-hospital obstetric services in the U.S. have been waning since 2010.

Key findings:

• Iowa experienced the highest loss of obstetric services in their hospitals during the study period.
• North Dakota has the highest percentage of hospitals without obstetric services.
• Seven US states had at least a quarter of their hospitals stop offering obstetric services during the study period.
• Obstetric services are more difficult to access in rural areas, with over two-thirds of their hospitals in eight US states not offering obstetric care.