The number of US births has been declining. There is also concern about rural obstetric
units closing. To better understand the relationship between births and obstetric beds during …

Importance Timely access to clinically appropriate obstetric services is critical to the
provision of high-quality perinatal care. Objective To examine the geographic distribution …

Objectives. To describe characteristics of rural hospitals in the United States by whether they
provide labor and delivery (obstetric) care for pregnant patients. Methods. We used the 2017 …

Background Childbirth is the most common reason for hospitalization in the United States.
Assessing obstetric care quality is critically important for patients, clinicians, and hospitals in …

Importance Hospital-based obstetric services have decreased in rural US counties, but
whether this has been associated with changes in birth location and outcomes is unknown …

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe the types and combinations of clinicians
who are delivering babies in rural hospitals, their employment status, the relationship …

Objective To evaluate the distribution of births among United States (US) hospitals in 2008
as part of the background for the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal …

Purpose Rural communities in the United States have higher rates of both infant and
maternal mortality, as well as serious pregnancy complications; this may be exacerbated by …

Background: Approximately 15% of the 4 million annual US births occur in rural hospitals.
Objective: To (1) measure differences in obstetric care in rural and urban hospitals, and to …

Objectives To understand hospital‐and county‐level factors for rural obstetric unit closures,
using mixed methods. Data Sources Hospital discharge data from Healthcare Cost and …