A new study released Tuesday reveals that more than a third of U.S. counties are now considered "maternity care deserts," without any obstetric healthcare providers, hospitals, or birth centers—and states with proposed or current abortion bans are especially likely to have few resources for pregnant people.
March of Dimes, which advocates for the health of pregnant people and babies, released the report, showing that since the group last analyzed maternal care deserts in the U.S. in 2020, 5% of counties "have less maternity access than just two years ago."
As many as 6.9 million women have little to no access to maternal healthcare, including 2.2 million women of childbearing age. Nearly 150,000 babies were negatively affected by a lack of practicing obstetricians, certified midwives, nurse midwives, hospitals, or birth centers.
Low income women are far more likely than middle- and high-income women to live in maternity care deserts, the report said:
The proportion of women living in counties below the national median household income is twice as high for maternity care deserts as it is in full access counties (90.1% and 45.2%, respectively).
The number of maternity care deserts in the U.S. has increased by 2% since 2020, with an additional 15,933 women facing a total lack of maternal healthcare in 1,119 counties.
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