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* WCCU…
Dozens of counties in Illinois are labeled “Maternity Deserts ‘ meaning there are no maternal resources in the area. […]
After the recent closure of labor and delivery services at OSF in Danville, mothers in the community had to travel around 40 miles to deliver their babies.
Brenda Adams from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program located in Danville stated that doctors from the Champaign county area are helping fill in the gap over in Danville to make sure all mothers can be seen. […]
Along with WIC services, the Gibbson Area Hospital and Health Services provide maternal care to patients from eight surrounding counties. Helping care for maternity desert areas in Illinois.
* More background on the study from NPR…
That’s according to a report released Tuesday by March of Dimes, a nonprofit focused on maternal and infant health. It finds that 36% of counties nationwide — largely in the Midwest and South — constitute “maternity care deserts,” meaning they have no obstetric hospitals or birth centers and no obstetric providers.
It paints a slightly grimmer picture than the organization’s last such report, which was released in 2020. Five percent of counties have a worse designation this time around, and there’s been a 2% increase in counties classified as maternity care deserts — accounting for some 15,933 women living in more than 1,000 counties.
March of Dimes says these changes are driven primarily by the loss of obstetric providers and hospital services within counties, as a result of financial and logistical challenges including the COVID pandemic.
And it warns the result is disproportionately harming rural communities and people of color: One in 4 Native American babies, and 1 in 6 Black babies, were born in areas with limited or no access to maternity care services.
You can take a look at the map here
* Last month in Crain’s…
On Chicago’s South Side, maternal care offerings are severely limited. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of South Side hospitals offering maternity services dropped from seven to three. The lack of options available to women on the South Side has created what the Chicago Tribune called a “birthing desert,” meaning expectant mothers must travel far beyond where they live to seek prenatal care.
How can we begin to address this crisis? A start would be to invest in community-based approaches that include certified practicing midwives providing Black families with holistic, culturally informed and science-based maternal health care before, during and after birth. These approaches can reduce maternal mortality and lead to improved outcomes such as lower rates of C-sections and fewer instances of pre-term or low-birth-weight infants.
Research shows that community-based approaches to maternal care, like doulas and freestanding birth centers (particularly when Black-owned), make a difference. This is why the organization I lead, Chicago Beyond, provided funding for Jeanine Valrie Logan, a birth-equity champion who works to address disparities in Black maternal health. Valrie Logan is bringing a nonprofit, Black midwife-led, culturally concordant, community-focused birth center to the South Side. […]
The truth of the matter is that systemic failures often prevent Black mothers and babies from receiving necessary care. And though we may never live in a perfect world, investing in community-based approaches can promise that healthy and safe birthing
* AP reported a link between COVID-19 and increases in pregnancy-related death…
COVID-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims, according to a government report released Wednesday.
The report lays out grim trends across the country for expectant mothers and their newborn babies.
It finds that pregnancy-related deaths have spiked nearly 80% since 2018, with COVID-19 being a factor in a quarter of the 1,178 deaths reported last year. The percentage of preterm and low birthweight babies also went up last year, after holding steady for years. And more pregnant or postpartum women are reporting symptoms of depression.
“We were already in the middle of a crisis with maternal mortality in our country,” said Karen Tabb Dina, a maternal health researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “This really shows that COVID-19 has exacerbated that crisis to rates that we, as a country, are not able to handle.”
…Adding… From this past May…
Governor JB Pritzker today signed two bills designed to provide better access to healthcare for rural Illinoisans. SB3017 amends the Loan Repayment Assistance for Physicians Act to address the shortage of healthcare providers, particularly for obstetrical services, in rural committees. SB1435 amends hospital licensing procedures to clear the way for health center mergers and increased healthcare coordination in rural districts.
posted by Isabel Miller
Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 9:26 am
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Not only is maternity care not a profit center, in many cases it brings down the bottom line. A single-payer healthcare model is the answer. How do we get there?
Comment by Sangamo Girl Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:03 am
“Not only is maternity care not a profit center, in many cases it brings down the bottom line.”
Northwestern figured a way around that conundrum. Everyone gets a C-section. Gotta hit the metrics, those administrators need 2nd yachts and 3rd vacation houses.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:23 am
So in over half the country, we force birth on those who do not want it, causing all kinds of consequences that affect even those who aren’t pregnant….and in times when they do want them, we have developing country maternal mortality rates, specifically affecting rural residents and people of color. Got it.
We sure are exceptional.
Comment by Sideline Watcher Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:27 am
When I was born it was 16 miles to the local hospital. When my kids were born it was about the same. Now the Grandkids are being birthed 60 miles away and that is the closest hospital with maternity services. Without Carbondale Hospital we would need to go out of state for any type of maternity care. We spend billions but can’t provide basic care for our children.
Comment by Nieva Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:29 am
==Northwestern figured a way around that conundrum. Everyone gets a C-section.==
Not the two kids I’ve had born there in the past 4 years.
Comment by supplied_demand Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:32 am
I’m stunned to see this given many of the deserts are in rural areas which according to the GOP are simply paradises of “real America”.
Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:34 am
==and in times when they do want them, we have developing country maternal mortality rates, specifically affecting rural residents and people of color. Got it.==
To take even a step further, South Carolina has a very high maternal death rate. South Carolina is trying to completely outlaw abortions (without trying to improve sex education or maternal fatality rate). This will kill actual human women in the name of saving fetuses. Today’s “pro life” movement in a nutshell.
Comment by supplied_demand Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:36 am
Generically, the ‘brain drain’ in healthcare in the ‘post-COVID’ era will cause issues around the country.
We need to invest in nursing education in this state (and in this country)
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:45 am
Medicare for all pregnant women at 6 weeks, the so called fetal heart beat stage with prenatal care and 1 year of postpartum, including mental health services, care for mother and child. The State could set up a system that has worked well in third world countries, hire local people, train them for a few months and task them with regular well care visits to a pre-assigned number of families. Pay them a living wage. They refer patients to more advanced care as the need arises. The U.S.A has developed the equivalent of a third world health care system in these areas. Let’s own it and start using successful strategies from third world countries.
Comment by froganon Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:45 am
I wonder how much of that is just the result of minimal health care facilities, period, in a given county. I know a lot of the more rural counties in Illinois have nothing more than what a friend refers to as bandaid stations as opposed to real hospitals.
And, from the portions of South Carolina I’ve been in, real hospitals (as opposed to emergency treatment and transfer stations) seem to be few and far between also.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 10:56 am
A contributor to the problem is also the high cost of malpractice insurance. My OBGYN dropped out of the obstetrics practice due to the annual cost of the insurance. He eventually returned to the practice when the cost of insurance was covered when he went to work at a teaching hospital. Combine the low reimbursement rate with the high cost to insure an OB, add in the threat of possible criminal charges for providing health care through abortion services (based on state of practice) and you have a triple whammy. Why would any new doctor want to choose this area of specialty? We may also see this issue surface in our ERs shortly.
Comment by illinifan Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:02 am
OSF is closing a lot of facilities lately.
There’s a nearby(to me)retirement home run by them that just announced it is closing as well.
We shouldn’t let religiously-run facilities be the only option available in many areas. Especially when they have millions in court ordered abuse settlements to pay out first.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:06 am
Maybe having a profit-driven completely market based healthcare system doesn’t actually serve the health needs of the citizens of this state and nation? Idk just food for thought.
Comment by Incandenza Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:11 am
Uh, several downstate counties don’t have a hospital, period, let alone maternity services.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:12 am
@illinifan
–for providing health care through abortion services–
OSF run facilities do not provide these services in the first place. OSF stands for “Order of St. Francis” and it is a catholic facility.
The Washington Post ran a great article on the larger issues of this problem a week or so ago, titled;
“Spread of Catholic hospitals limits reproductive care across the U.S.”
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:14 am
well….. there is a general lack of modern medical care in many parts of the nation, or modern medical care held hostage to Roman Catholic run institutions. As we learn more about medicine we want better care than can be had in the handle it yourself with your neighbors times. So, more hospitals needed and internet connections and telemedicine. There is also an anti midwife bias, where much of the anti abortion legislation started, doctors (men) opposed to women handling women so they accused them of practicing medicine without legal cover and created laws to blame. And there is a boatload of stupid out there, some people who refuse to learn about needs or ask for needs early as well as a lack of education about pregnancy specifically and medicine generally. And then there is the crisis of lawsuits and birthing. it just takes one bad baby case to end the career of an ob. Some of it surely justified but I’ve watched cases where the woman got no pre natal care (in a large city) and dumped the blame on a doctor when a situation that could have been just fine went south due to the patient’s negligence during pregnancy. It’s very complicated.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:35 am
Rural hospitals across America are closing. Rural tends to trend at poverty line. A lot of folks there are on subsidized health care. Put 2 and 2 together here and you get where I am going…
Comment by Politics Drives Policy Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:45 am
The invisible man, you are right. So we have an additional problem to add to insurance, reimbursement, criminal charges add in health care limited by faith/ideology of the medical institution. That said Catholic hospitals will still terminate an ectopic pregnancy or perform a D&C to provide care for miscarriage. These options are being affected in some states based on the way laws are written regardless of the medical providers beliefs.
Comment by illinifan Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 11:55 am
NPR story on Catholic hospitals and reproductive healthcare.
Excerpt- GODOY: Right. So there’s been a lot of consolidation in the health care system just in general. And now you see Catholic health networks that have bought up doctors practices, urgent care clinics, surgery centers. These are now subject to Catholic religious directives, which, among other things, ban contraception for the sole purpose of preventing pregnancy. I actually talked to Debra Stulberg of the University of Chicago. She’s done a lot of research on how these religious directives play out when it comes to reproductive health.
DEBRA STULBERG: You cannot promote or condone contraception other than natural family planning for married couples under specific sort of church-sanctioned situations. That ban on contraception includes a ban on permanent contraception - so things like tubal ligation and vasectomy.
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/29/1119882446/getting-contraception-gets-complicated-for-patients-at-catholic-hospitals
Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 12:03 pm
Forget hospitals; birth your child at home and run about a 25% risk of dying from it. It’s what the Lord intended. As a bonus one of the new breed of Silicon Valley bros will get to reimagine the for-profit orphanage for the digital age, or something. Adopt this downtrodden street urchin… but as an NFT.
Comment by Roadrager Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 12:16 pm
America is the greatest country to ever exist…for one percenters…?
Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 12:24 pm
Not disputing that US maternal care is poor. But counties are a weird way to measure it. Lots of Illinois counties have tiny populations. It’s not like care would improve if we merged those counties with larger neighbors.
Would it really be a good use of resources to put a hospital or birth center in every county with less than 5,000 people? They might average one birth/week.
Comment by Ebenezer Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 1:58 pm
I live in west central Illinois, and this is true. We have one hospital that covers multiple counties. Trying to get a prenatal appointment is a nightmare. My insurance limits my options or I’d be looking to drive 40-50 miles to get better care during my pregnancy.
Comment by RuralMom Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 2:02 pm
There are alot of deserts in the Midwest……Food, Fitness, Maternity………….
Comment by DMC Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 3:48 pm
@TheInvisableMan you have no idea of what Catholic Healthcare has done to improve the lives of all people. It is just covered over by a few things that irritate some people.
Comment by clec dcn Thursday, Oct 20, 22 @ 6:43 pm