Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the US

March of Dimes has released its 2024 report, Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the US, revealing access to maternity care is diminishing in places where it is needed most.

March of Dimes leads and support research, advocacy, and education on issues regarding maternal and infant care, including access to care. They define maternity care deserts as counties in which access to maternity health care services is limited or absent, either through lack of services or barrier's to a person's ability to access that care. More than 2.3 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts in the US that have no hospital offering obstetric care, no birth center, and no obstetric provider

This report reinforces that the US is still one of the most dangerous developed nations for childbirth, especially in rural areas and in communities of color. Additionally, previous research has suggested that increasing the maternity care workforce is essential for filling in the gap in maternity care deserts in order to help lower the rates of pregnancy-related complications, maternal mortality, and infant mortality in the United States.

Key findings from the 2024 report include:

• 35% of US counties are maternity care deserts

• More than 150,000 babies were born to birthing people living in maternity care deserts

• More than 2.3 million reproductive aged women live in maternity care deserts

• Over half of counties in the US do not have a hospital that provides obstetric care

• Nearly 70% of birth centers are located within just 10 states

• 2.5 million reproductive aged women live in a county without an obstetric clinician

• The average percent of uninsured women in maternity care deserts is 2 times the rate of those living in areas with full access

• On average, birthing women in the US travel 16 minutes by car to their nearest birth hospital without traffic

• Fertility rates in rural counties and maternity care deserts are higher than urban and full access counties and are decreasing at a slower pace

• Chronic conditions related to poor health outcomes, like pre-pregnancy obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, have increased significantly since 2015 and are most common among women living in maternity care deserts

The full report can be found here.