No doctor, no delivery

The briefing

An essay argues that rural labor and delivery closures are an economic story as much as a public health one. Fewer than half of U.S. rural hospitals still deliver babies, 139 have stopped since 2020, and more than a third of counties are now maternity care deserts. One study found a rural hospital closure was associated with an 8.3% drop in primary care physicians and a 4.8% drop in OB-GYNs, and the author calls for raising Medicaid obstetric reimbursement and tracking obstetric closures separately.