According to a recent survey, as the proportion of women who pass away in the US as a result of problems after childbirth rises, correspondingly rises the percentage of women who have little to no access to maternity care.
According to a research released on on Tuesday by March of Dimes, a charitable organization dedicated to enhancing the health of expectant mothers and unborn children, over 5.6 million women in the USA reside in areas with either no or limited access to maternity care services.
during 300 birthing units were lost by hospitals in the United States during the course of the five years prior when March of Dimes began publishing its yearly report on maternity care. Obstetric services have been eliminated from hospitals in almost one out of every ten counties nationwide.
Maternity care deserts, which March of Dimes defines as “all region in the US lacking a healthcare facility or birthing center providing obstetrical services along with lacking any obstetric providers,” have increased by 4% since the initial study in 2018.
Additionally, according to the March of Dimes, access to maternity care has gotten worse in 70 counties throughout the U.S. since last year’s report.
“Consider the word access. This indicates that they do not visit the hospital. They cannot travel merely 30 minutes to receive an urgent c-section or to receive treatment for a hypertensive emergency.
You’re discussing the worst outcomes inside the delivery period,” March of Dimes CEO and President Dr. Elizabeth Cherot informed the ABC News’ Janai Norman.
“Think about access in terms of, ‘I’m not willing to drive over 150 miles or fly to get to my perinatal visit, so I won’t be traveling and get seen.'”
“We understand that women who do not have prenatal treatment are between three and four times more likely to die than women who do have prenatal care,” Cherot stated. That is the problem.”
According to the March of Dimes research, almost each state has some parts of maternal healthcare deserts, with the Midwestern & Southern states having the highest frequency. According to the survey, approximately 90% of women in rural Alabama had no pregnancy-related hospitals in thirty minutes of their house.
The state of New Mexico had the greatest rate of poor care for pregnant women, followed by Hawaii, Florida, and Texas.
Based on census data, Texas, which has approximately 15 million women, has the “the highest reproductive health risk of all U.S. states.”
According to the research, over 46% of Texas counties are designated as maternity care deserts, with 20% of delivering women receiving “no or insufficient prenatal care.”
In the United States, almost 15% of pregnant women receive no or insufficient prenatal care.
About 32 million women are ‘vulnerable to adverse health consequences’.
The new maternal care data is the first from March of Dimes after the previous year’s Supreme Court ruling that repealed Roe v. Wade including the fundamental right to abortion throughout the United States.
Since that judgment, 15 states have prohibited practically all abortions, and many more have imposed limitations.
According to the March of Dimes, over thirty-two million women of reproductive maturity in the United States are “at risk to poor health consequences” due to a lack of availability of reproductive health services.