WEDNESDAY, Sept. 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- In the two years since the March of Dimes' last report on the state of U.S. maternity care, more than 100 hospitals nationwide have shuttered their obstetric units, leaving more new moms with literally "Nowhere to Go" for care.

The March of Dimes' 2024 report, titled "Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S.," finds hospital closures have left more than 5.5 million women and their babies with no or limited access to maternity care.

"For too many families across the U.S., the ability to have a healthy pregnancy depends on where they live," March of Dimes Chief Medical Officer Dr. Amanda Williams said in a news release. "Our 2024 report underscores that maternity care is still not prioritized in our country and there is an urgent need for systemic changes to improve outcomes for moms and babies in the U.S. and to ensure that these families have access to the care they need and deserve."

With hospitals closing maternity units in over 100 counties between 2022 and 2024, more new mothers are being forced to travel long distances to access care -- if they can make the trip at all.

Overall, a third of all U.S. counties are now classified by the March of Dimes as "maternity care deserts," with no birthing facilities or obstetricians. The worst states for this are North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Over 150,000 babies were born to women living in maternity deserts during the time period covered by the report.

All of this matters to outcomes for women and babies: Preterm births are 13% more likely in a maternity care desert, the March of Dimes said.

The number of women who have high blood pressure before they became pregnant rose by 80% between 2015 and 2022, the group noted, and the rate of pre-pregnancy hypertension is 30% higher in counties deemed maternity care deserts.

"Hypertension increases the risk for adverse outcomes such as preeclampsia, a potentially fatal condition that causes a pregnant woman’s blood pressure to rise and can lead to preterm birth, stroke, seizure and other complications," the March of Dimes noted.

Women of color are being hit especially hard.

“Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes -- a tragedy exacerbated by a lack of resources to care for them, let alone save them,” said Tatyana Ali, American actress ("Fresh Prince of Bel Air") and March of Dimes advocate. “As a Black birthing woman who experienced firsthand the inequities of our maternal healthcare system, we must do better for ourselves, each other and our communities. The health of moms and babies needs to be a priority in the U.S.”

Trying to ease the crisis, the March of Dimes has created a fleet of Mom and Baby Mobile Health Centers, which "focus on providing critical care to families in chronically underserved communities," the group said.

So far, these mobile health centers have been set up in Tucson, Ariz.; Phoenix; Columbus, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, with more set to launch in Houston; Cleveland, Ohio; Southeast, Ohio; Birmingham, Ala.; and in Arizona where it will serve a tribal population.

More information

Find out more about preeclampsia at Yale Medicine.

SOURCE: March of Dimes, news release, Sept. 10, 2024