First on CNN: US faces maternity care crisis, with 1 in 3 counties lacking obstetric doctors to provide care, report warns

The United States is facing an ongoing maternity health crisis in which 1 in every 3 counties does not have a single obstetric clinician, affecting women’s access to care, according to a new report.

The United States is facing an ongoing maternity health crisis in which 1 in every 3 counties does not have a single obstetric clinician, affecting women’s access to care, according to a new report. The report, released Tuesday by the infant and maternal health nonprofit March of Dimes, says that in many parts of the country, obstetrician/gynecologists and family physicians who deliver babies are leaving the workforce, which worsens access to care. Ob/gyns nationwide delivered more than 85% of babies born in 2022, according to the report, but the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) now projects that the nation will face a shortage of 12,000 to 15,000 ob/gyns by 2050. Additionally, “there’s been a significant uptick in, say, the last five years in terms of hospitals closing their obstetric units, with staff shortages, poor reimbursements, low birth volumes, all of those are influencing the hospital’s decision to close obstetric units and leaving patients with very limited choices about where they can have their delivery,” said Dr. Amanda Williams, interim chief medical officer for March of Dimes. “We know that, especially following the pandemic, there are many staffing shortages, particularly in nursing,” she said. “And then we have shortages of ob/gyns and family practice doctors and midwives who could be taking on more of the burden.” Family physicians provide maternity care in some areas where access to ob/gyns is limited or nonexistent, according to the new report. Family physicians account for 1 in 4 obstetric clinicians in rural counties, compared with just 1 in 20 in urban counties, the new report says, and family physicians practicing in rural counties are more likely to report delivering babies than those in urban counties.