March of Dimes: Over a Third of U.S. Counties Lack Maternity Care
New report finds nearly 35% of U.S. counties are 'maternity care deserts,' with more than half lacking any labor and delivery hospital.
Conversation activity · last 16 hours peak 5/30m
Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 13 items across 4 sources · 51m ago. Quotes are verbatim.
A new March of Dimes report finds that roughly one in three U.S. counties has no birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians, and that more than half of counties nationwide have no labor and delivery hospitals, leaving 5.8 million women without full access to maternity care. NPR paired the findings with a profile of a Black midwife working to fill gaps in rural Alabama, while state-level coverage (Mississippi) and political outlets (The Hill, Daily Caller) picked up the report the same day.
- March of Dimes report finds nearly 35% of U.S. counties are maternity care deserts with no birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians.
- More than half of U.S. counties have no labor and delivery hospitals at all.
- 5.8 million women live in counties lacking full access to maternity care, per The Hill's coverage of the report.
- Nearly half of Mississippi's counties are classified as maternity care deserts, according to state-level reporting.
How it unfolded
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The Hill's coverage highlights that March of Dimes, founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt, found 5.8 million women live in counties without full maternity care access.
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A physician sharing the NPR story on Bluesky quotes the report's precise statistic that nearly 35% of counties are maternity care deserts.
“...one in three counties, or nearly 35%, are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians.”
amitchandramd.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗ -
Daily Caller's coverage frames the findings around 'unnecessary barriers to maternity care' cited in the report.
“unnecessary barriers to maternity care”
March of Dimes report · Press ↗ -
NPR's Bluesky post summarizing the report and midwife profile draws 287 engagement points and several comments.
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Mississippi Today reports that nearly half of Mississippi's counties are maternity care deserts lacking an obstetric clinician or birthing facility.
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NPR publishes a feature on a Black midwife in Alabama alongside new March of Dimes research showing more than half of U.S. counties have no labor and delivery hospitals.
What people are saying verbatim
“...one in three counties, or nearly 35%, are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians.”
amitchandramd.bsky.social, Physician sharing NPR report · Bluesky ↗ · Aug 11, 2:33 PM
“unnecessary barriers to maternity care”
March of Dimes report, Cited in Daily Caller coverage · Daily Caller ↗ · Aug 11, 11:03 AM
Voices from the web unedited
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New research from the March of Dimes says more than half of U.S. counties have no labor and delivery hospitals. One Black midwife tries to make a difference for moms in Alabama.
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https://www. npr.org/2026/08/11/nx-s1-56785 23/maternity-desert-birth-midwife-black-moms-babies
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Via @npr.org Morning Edition today... Midwives and health systems struggle to fill gaps in maternity care: "...one in three counties, or nearly 35%, are maternity care deserts, meaning they have no birthing facilities or obstetric clinicians."