Hospital maternity units

The number of hospitals with maternity units has been declining for years – and there is reason to fear that decline will continue in the near future. According to a recent analysis: More than 700 hospitals closed their maternity units between 2010 and 2024. Today, nearly half of all U.S. hospitals do not have a maternity unit. The shortage is especially great in rural areas, where 57 percent of rural hospitals have no maternity unit. Maternity unit closures hit hospitals especially hard in rural Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Among the reasons for the closing of so many hospital maternity [...]