A new report from the March of Dimes finds that more than a third of U.S. counties (36 percent) have no obstetric providers, hospitals, or birth centers. These areas are largely rural areas in the Midwest and South, with a greater impact on women 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. The report says that roughly 900 women died of pregnancy-related causes in 2020, adding that nearly two-thirds of such deaths are preventable.
