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AP-National

Rural hospitals are closing maternity wards. People are seeking options to give birth closer to home

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Published 9:11 AM

By CLAIRE RUSH and LAURA UNGAR
Associated Press

Fewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery units, and the number keeps dropping. It’s forcing pregnant women to travel longer distances for care or face giving birth in an emergency room. Government officials and families are scrambling for answers. One solution gaining ground across the U.S. is freestanding midwife-led birth centers. OB unit closures have worsened so-called “maternity care deserts,” where more than two million women of childbearing age live.

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