Declining access to US maternity care is a systemic injustice

Access to healthcare is an internationally recognised human right, but the United States is failing at honouring this right for people who are pregnant.1 Research documenting the scope and consequences of declining access to maternal healthcare, especially in rural areas, has been amassing over the past 10 years.23 News stories have followed, and policy makers have paid attention. In 2018 Congress passed the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act.4 Yet, despite evidence, media attention, and policy action, the situation isn’t getting better.Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the US, a 2022 report from the non-profit organisation March of Dimes, highlighted ongoing and worsening gaps in access to care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, concentrated in rural and low income communities.5 For example, the report said that in 2022 more than 2.2 million women of reproductive age lived in counties with no maternity care access, an uptick since…
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