Hospitals in rural areas are shutting down their maternity wards as fewer babies are being born, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Multiple hospitals in rural areas, such as University Hospitals in Ashland, Ohio, OSF HealthCare’s hospital in Pontiac, Illinois, and Trinity Health in Troy, New York, and Baker City, Oregon, plan to stop delivering babies due to fewer babies being born and less staff being available, according to the WSJ. The number of newborns born at OSF HealthCare St. James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center decreased from 184 in 2019 to 120 last year, and Trinity’s maternity unit at Samaritan Hospital, which lost $2.3 million during the last fiscal year, transferred some women to other hospitals to give birth, according to the WSJ. (RELATED: Pope Francis Says There Is ‘Little Hope’ If Countries Don’t Adopt Policies Encouraging People To Have Children)
“There’s just not enough babies to be had,” Dr. Michael Cruz, OSF HealthCare’s chief operating officer, told the WSJ.
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT – JUNE 17: Zully prepares her son Neysel, 10 weeks, for bed on June 17, 2020, in Stamford, Connecticut. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
More than 5.6 million women are living in areas with no or limited access to maternal healthcare services, according to March of Dimes, an organization that aims to end preventable maternal health risks and death. Women are more likely to give birth too early after local maternity units are shut down, according to the WSJ.
University Hospitals, OSF HealthCare and Trinity Health did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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