EXCERPT: “In the past five years, over 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies, contributing to the 57% of rural U.S. hospitals that lack labor and delivery services. This finding comes from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. Its July report details the number of rural hospitals by state that lack maternity care services, those that do offer such services, the financial losses incurred from maternity care and the travel time to the nearest hospital providing OB services. ‘Over 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable with appropriate prenatal, labor & delivery, and post-partum care,’ the CHQPR report notes. ‘Although improvements in maternity care are needed in all parts of the country to reduce mortality rates, one of the greatest challenges is in rural areas, because most rural hospitals are no longer providing maternity care at all.'” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/3zaR8Cg
