“Though the transition from home to the hospital was made in the name of safety, it dramatically increased maternal mortality rates. That was ‘due to poor practitioner training, excessive interventions, and the failure to implement aseptic techniques,’ says Carol Sakala , who leads maternal health and maternity care programming at the National Partnership for Women &Families, a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization.”

“Medicaid covers over 40 percent of births in the United States, and an even higher percentage in rural areas. According to an analysis from the National Partnership for Women & Families, a nonprofit advocacy organization, “144 rural hospitals across the country with labor and delivery units are at risk of closure or severe service cutbacks” based on the Medicaid cuts outlined in the bill. That’s in addition to the over 100 rural labor and delivery units that have closed or plan to close since 2020.”

“The historically brutal Medicaid cuts—a staggering $930 billion slashed from the program over the next decade—could force as many as 144 rural hospitals around the US to close their labor-and-delivery units or drastically scale back services, a new analysis by the National Partnership for Women & Families projects. That could have potentially catastrophic consequences for maternal and infant health. ‘When somebody is in labor or having a pregnancy-related emergency, every second counts,’ says Rolonda Donelson, lead author of the analysis. ‘And with these hospital closures, people are going to have to travel further and further to get the help that they need.’”