Maternity care deserts in the United States

[3] Its 2022 report indicated an increase of nearly 2%, with 1119 of 3142 US counties (35.6%) considered maternity care deserts, affecting a population of over 5.6 million women.

The United States is one of two countries worldwide that has reported significantly increased maternal mortality since 2000.

[17] Since 1991, the United States government has passed policies to reduce infant and maternal mortality through programs including Healthy Start.

Healthy Start was first funded by President George H. W. Bush under Section 301 of the Public Health Services Act.

[13][18] In 2020, the Division of Reproductive Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a national "Hear Her" campaign called to raise awareness of danger signs during and following pregnancy and to improve communication between pregnant or postpartum people, support systems, and health care providers.

[25] They provide culturally competent care and have been shown in multiple studies to decrease cesarean sections.

[28] There is evidence that this reduction in cesarean rates and improved outcomes may be a cost savings for state Medicaid programs.

[29] In order to increase the number of midwives, policy makers have invested in midwifery training programs to make the field more accessible.

[36] Maternal health care has received more legislative attention since the end of Roe v. Wade.

[37] In September 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced 90 million dollars in funding to support the plan for tackling maternal care in America.

[43] Based on the CDC initiative, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) started its own Hear Her campaign of education and resources to help people recognize urgent maternal warning signs and know when they need to seek help.

[44][45][46] The United States Health Resources and Services Administration funds the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program In September 2019.

From 2019 to 2020 the Texas RMOMS Comprehensive Maternal Care Network (TX-RMOMS) served 1,644 women and delivered 1,230 babies.

[47] The Texas Presumptive eligibility program allows hospitals to determine if individuals need short term Medicaid.

[50] As of December 8, 2023 Masshealth (Medicaid) announced a new benefit of allowing coverage of doula services for pregnant, birthing and post partum members.