Maternity wards are closing across the nation because of rising health care costs and this is causing some serious concerns among hospitals.  According to the article “Closing Maternity Wards: Costly and Risky” by Kelli B. Haywood on DailyYonder.com, maternity wards are closing in rural areas specifically and these areas are already short on doctors.  Women living in these areas need a new model for prenatal care and more options to birth their children in a safe environment.

Rural women have been facing this challenge for years and it’s not letting up any time soon.  Hospitals are citing poor Medicaid reimbursement, increasing malpractice maternity health insurance, and fewer births.  Some rural locations are noticing more and more women driving further distances to receive services from larger hospitals.  Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital in Wadsworth, Ohio said they closed their maternity ward in 2009 because of fewer births due to an aging population in the servicing area.  The state of Alabama has lost 26 maternity care options since 1980.

Even though there actually are fewer births in rural areas, these hospitals still deal with doctor shortages when it comes to maternity care.  Based on research from the Center for Rural Health at the University of Kentucky, an average of 7 OBs serve every 100,000 residents in rural Kentucky, but for urban areas it’s 11 OBs per 100,000 residents.  This is a huge difference and obviously is going to affect the level of maternity care being given at these hospitals.  We’ll see if health care reform has any impact on this growing problem, because the birth of babies is not something that will ever go away.