Governing magazine looks at how maternity wards are disappearing from some rural hospitals.

“A study published in September in the journal Health Affairs found that 1 in 10 rural counties had lost their ob-gyn wards in the past 10 years,” the magazine noted. But then, ob-gyn are very expensive.

The magazine reports: “Maternal health in rural America is made more complicated by the fact that rural areas routinely rank higher than urban areas in rates of noncommunicable diseases and preventable deaths. Birth outcomes are poorer, too. And with fewer and fewer ob-gyns available, there will likely be more high-risk pregnancies, unhealthy births and resulting long-term health issues. ”

And:

“There’s no funding solution in sight. While states might try to pick up some of the slack, there’s a consensus among most health-care experts that a federal partner is needed”

To read the whole article, please hit this link.