Maternal health

Current Projects

• Economic Impact of Labor and Delivery Unit Closure
  Since 2020, over 100 rural hospitals have closed labor and delivery (L&D) units, leaving most rural areas without local maternity care. These closures may increase travel, worsen maternal outcomes, and affect local economies. This study examines how L&D closures impact county population and labor force size, especially among adults ages 18–49.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health
  
• Effect of Rural Hospital Consolidation on Patient Distance to Specialty Services
  Hospital closures and consolidation raise concerns about access as less profitable service lines—obstetrics, cancer, and substance use treatment are less profitable than other specialty service lines—and may be eliminated after mergers. This project examines how consolidation affects spatial access to care.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Substance use and treatment
  
• Higher-Level Maternity Care Access in Rural Communities
  This project will build on University of Minnesota's dataset on obstetric care access, which now includes an indicator of higher-level neonatal care at U.S. hospitals. We will assess the feasibility and reliability of creating an indicator for higher-level maternal care, based on a previously published algorithm identifying maternal levels of care.
  Research center: Rural Maternal Health Data Support and Analysis Program
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health
  
• Higher-Level Neonatal and Obstetric/Well-Infant Care Access in Rural Communities
  This project's goal is to describe access to childbirth-related care for families living in rural and urban communities, including attention to rural communities without access to either neonatal or obstetric services, and those communities with obstetric and well-infant care, but without higher-level neonatal care.
  Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Women
  
• Monitoring Obstetric Unit Closures and Maintaining County-level Data on Hospital-based Obstetric Care 2010-2025
  This project will build on the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center's 2010-2024 dataset on obstetric care access. We will create updated county-level public health data infrastructure with information on hospital-based obstetric care in rural and urban counties, and on the loss of hospital-based obstetric services through 2025.
  Research center: Rural Maternal Health Data Support and Analysis Program
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health
  
• Relationship Between Rural Hospital Bypass and Obstetric Unit Closures
  This project will assess how often and what type of rural pregnant patients bypass local birth hospitals for obstetric care, and identify bypass patterns that precede obstetric unit closures.
  Research center: Rural Maternal Health Data Support and Analysis Program
  Topics: Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health
  
• Rural-Urban Differences in Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality
  Much has changed since we last studied rural-urban differences in severe maternal morbidity and mortality, including a substantial decline in access to hospital-based maternity care that disproportionately affects rural residents. The purpose of this project is to provide an updated national look at these trends and to analyze potential strategies for addressing rural-specific challenges in maternal health.
  Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Healthcare access, Maternal health, Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health
  
• State-Level Medicaid Bundled Payments and Rural Perinatal Care
  The impacts of state-level Medicaid bundled payment models will depend on many factors, such as maternity care facility structure, scope of services, and local patient bypassing behaviors during prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum periods. For rural providers who often offer prenatal and postpartum care but not labor and delivery services, these bundled payments may impose additional financial and logistical challenges.
  Research center: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Maternal health, Medicaid and CHIP