New York, December 5 (IANS). More than 500 hospital maternity departments have been closed in rural areas of the US since 2010. Due to which, in most rural hospitals and more than one-third of urban hospitals in America, pregnant women are not getting proper care.
It was found that about 130 hospitals were also closed due to opening of new units. This has come to light in a study published on Wednesday in JAMA, a major medical journal.
Maternal mortality remained high during that period and further increased during the pandemic, Xinhua news agency reported.
Its data only covers through 2022, so the study doesn’t take into account the additional challenges that hospitals faced after the Roe v. Wade case was overturned that year and many states banned abortion. There has also been a sharp decline in the number of obstetricians in states that have banned abortion.
Researchers said hospitals are closing their maternity units in part because those departments lose money. Medicaid, the public insurance program for the poor, covers more than 40 percent of all births in the United States and typically pays doctors and hospitals much less than private insurance.
The New York Times reported on the study, “Hospital administrators often consider the revenue generated from each bed, leading to pressure in favor of more expensive services. Running a labor and delivery unit can be exceptionally expensive. Because it requires round-the-clock coverage of specialists who can assist in caesarean sections or other medical emergencies.”
–IANS
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