More on disappearing maternity care in rural America

This op-ed on the subject, by Katy B. Kozhimannil of the University of Minnesota (Rural Health Research Center) and Austin Frakt of the Boston University School of Public Health, was published a few days ago in the Washington Post, and re-printed yesterday in the Duluth News Tribune.  Here's an excerpt:

Life in rural America can be tough, with challenges starting right from birth. Increasingly, rural women lack access to maternity services, jeopardizing their health and that of their newborns at a time when U.S. maternal mortality is rising. 

Giving birth is hard enough, but racing 100 miles to the nearest hospital down winding country roads is a particularly harrowing way to experience labor. Evidence confirms what common sense suggests: Drive time affects outcomes. A Canadian study shows that the babies of mothers who travel more than an hour to give birth are more likely to require intensive care or to die within their first year of life.

Other posts on the topic are here, here, here, here and here.  Related media coverage is here, here, here, here, and here.