More hospitals across the US are closing maternity wards

More hospitals across the U.S. are closing obstetrics programs and maternity wards, forcing women and other pregnant people to find care elsewhere.

This month, Monroe County Hospital in Alabama will be closing its labor and delivery unit, making it the third hospital in the state to do so after Shelby Baptist Medical Center and Princeton Baptist in Birmingham also shuttered their units, according to local ABC affiliate WBRC.

Meanwhile, Betsy Johnson Hospital in Harnett County, North Carolina, announced last month it would be stopping labor and delivery services as well.

Officials say there are several reasons hospitals have been closing units, in some cases, it's due to labor shortages and in others, it's because of financial pressure.

Dr. Don Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, told WBRC that hospitals in Alabama have been struggling to staff units and have lost money from treating uninsured patients.

"When you've got hospitals that are struggling to make payroll and they're losing money on delivery services and you've got a shortage of providers, it becomes very difficult," he said.

However, another reason some hospitals may be shutting programs is due to the challenging landscape since the June 2023 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Since then, at least 16 states have ceased nearly all abortions due to restrictions -- and the count could rise as states such as Arizona and Florida face court challenges to their strict bans.

Earlier this year, Bonner General Health in Sandpoint -- 400 miles north of Boise, Idaho and serving about 9,000 people -- said it would nolonger be providing obstetrical care due in part to the state's "legal and political climate," indirectly referring to recent restrictions on abortions.

"We have made every effort to avoid eliminating these services," Ford Elsaesser, BGH's board president, said in a news release at that time. "We hoped to be the exception, but our challenges are impossible to overcome now."

The closure of labor and delivery wards across the country may lead to maternity care deserts, or counties with a lack of no obstetric services or providers.

A recent ABC News and Boston Children's Hospital analysis found maternity care deserts overlap with lack of abortion access. The analysis found more than 1.7 million women, nearly 3% of women of reproductive age in the U.S., live in a county without access to abortion and with no access to maternity care.

This means women and other pregnant people may have to travel further to seek care or, when they give birth, have to do so at home.

A report from the nonprofit March of Dimes found there is a higher risk for poor maternal and infant health outcomes for those living in maternity care deserts including pre-term birth, extended time in the hospital and -- in the most severe cases -- complications that can lead to death.