Fewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping
Dr. Pam Evans, an obstetrician, poses in one of her exam rooms that is decorated with photographs of children she has delivered at the Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tenn., on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. With the closing of the maternity ward at the facility in early September, Evans fears that things like preterm deliveries, infant mortality and low-birthweight babies — a measure in which the county already ranks poorly — are bound to get worse.
Ultimately, doctors and researchers say, having fewer hospital maternity units makes having babies less safe. One study showed rural residents have a 9% greater probability of facing life-threatening complications or even death from pregnancy and birth compared to those in urban areas — and having less access to care plays a part.
Officials at Saint Alphonsus, the hospital in Baker City where Alderson wanted to give birth, cited a shortage of OB nurses and declining deliveries. The percentage of births there covered by Medicaid — 70% — far exceeded the national average of 42%. Tennessee’s Medicaid program paid the hospital about $1,700 per delivery for each mom, a fraction of what the hospital needed, Tucker said.
Kee also had to switch from the Henry County obstetrician she trusted for her other pregnancies, Dr. Pamela Evans, who will stay at the hospital as a gynecologist. About two hours away, inside a house in the woods, a handful of women sat in a circle on pillows for a prenatal group meeting at The Farm Midwifery Center, a storied place in Summertown, Tennessee, that's more than a half-century old.
“The kinds of lifesaving procedures that can only be conducted in a hospital are important for those very high-risk cases,” McGregor said. “But for the majority of pregnancies, which are low-risk, birth centers can be a very important solution to lowering costs within the U.S. health care system and improving outcomes.”
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Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to homeFewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping
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Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to homeFewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping
Read more »
Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to homeFewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping.
Read more »
Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to homeFewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping.
Read more »
Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to homeFewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping
Read more »
Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to homeFewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units and the number keeps dropping.
Read more »