Hospitals across the country discontinuing labor and delivery services put thousands of pregnant women in rural, low-income areas and communities of color at risk, experts say.
Nov. 21, 2021, 9:30 AM UTCShantell Jones gave birth in an ambulance parked on the side of a Connecticut highway. Even though she lived six blocks away from a hospital, the emergency vehicle had to drive to another one about 30 minutes away.
The problem is particularly acute in communities of color, like Windham in northeastern Connecticut, where the population is 41 percent Latino, while the statewide Latino population is only 16.9 percent, according to. The community is 6.2 percent Black. Local activists say they fear low-income residents will bear the brunt of the hospital’s decision because Windham has a 24.6 percent poverty rate compared to 10 percent statewide, according to the census.
An emergency medical technician delivered the boy just after midnight Nov. 17, 2020, while cars sped by. As Jones pushed, she was terrified a complication might arise and there would be no hospital resources to lean on. "The proposal at its core is about patient safety," Jennifer Fusco, an attorney for Hartford HealthCare, said during the public hearing."It's about a need to close a labor and delivery service that can no longer be operated in a safe or consistent manner."
Labor and delivery departments"have a lot of human value" but often make little money, said Katy Kozhimannil, a public health researcher and University of Minnesota professor, who authored the study published in JAMA.
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