RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Maternity Care Deserts: Key Drivers of the National Maternal Health Crisis
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP 165
OP 167
DO 10.3122/jabfm.2024.240198R1
VO 38
IS 1
A1 Adashi, Eli Y.
A1 O’Mahony, Daniel P.
A1 Cohen, I. Glenn
YR 2025
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/38/1/165.abstract
AB Maternal care deserts, defined as counties where there are no hospitals offering obstetric services or birth centers and no obstetricians, gynecologists, or certified nurse midwives, have a significant adverse effect on the quality of maternity care afforded women in the United States, especially Black women and women in rural areas. The maternal mortality rate for Black women in 2022 was 2.6 times higher than the rate for White women. The rate in the most rural counties is 1.6 times higher than the rate in large metropolitan counties. Across the nation, 36% of all US counties qualify as maternal care deserts, contributing to the country’s poor placement globally among high-income nations. A recent report by the March of Dimes draws attention to the crisis in maternal health care. A number of interventions have been proposed by federal government entities to address the persistent problem. Family physicians in particular have a potential role in improving the situation as they represent the broadest geographic coverage of all maternity care providers.