Report tracks decline in hospital obstetrics services’ availability

Between 2010 and 2024, 718 hospitals nationwide lost obstetric services due to obstetric unit or hospital closure, according to an inaugural annual report on obstetric services in hospitals. Released by the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, the report found 14% of hospitals (16% rural, 13% urban) lost obstetric services between 2010 and 2024, with 67 closures occurring between 2023 and 2024. In 2023, about 7,000 births, or 1.4% of all rural births, occurred at rural hospitals that subsequently closed their obstetrics departments in 2024.  The report says 35% of hospitals (42% rural, 30% urban) never had obstetric services between 2010 and 2024. By 2024, 57.5% of U.S. rural hospitals and 43.6% of urban hospitals were without obstetric services. (University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center report, 9/2/26)