Maternal
Maternity care desert
A maternity care desert is a county with no hospital providing obstetric care, no birth center and no obstetric clinicians, a definition popularized by the March of Dimes.
The March of Dimes defines a maternity care desert as a county with no hospital offering obstetric care, no birth center, and no obstetric providers such as obstetrician-gynecologists, family physicians who deliver babies, or certified nurse midwives.
Counties with limited but some access are classed separately. Deserts are concentrated in rural areas, and the closure of rural labor and delivery units has expanded them.
Living in a desert means longer travel for prenatal visits and delivery, and longer travel time to higher-level obstetric care has been linked to worse maternal outcomes.
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Educational reference. Not medical advice and not for clinical decision-making.