Named L&D unit closures since H.R. 1 was signed (July 4, 2025)
…
Estimated typical drive time to the nearest L&D unit for communities where these rural hospitals closed
Closure-weighted average of CHQPR state median drive times. A state-level estimate, not measured per hospital.
Maternity services are disappearing across the country, hitting low-income communities the hardest. Running a labor and delivery unit is expensive, with round-the-clock staffing that insurance (Medicaid and private payers alike) has long failed to cover.1 Workforce shortages compound the pressure: one in five medical students wanting to specialize in OB/GYN won’t match to a residency because there aren’t enough training slots.1 Now, the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program’s history are accelerating a crisis years in the making.2
146 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies since 2020.3 About 1 in 3 U.S. counties (34.6%) are now considered maternity care deserts, lacking an obstetric provider or birthing facility entirely.4 The map below documents named labor and delivery and postpartum closures across the country, alongside state-level shading showing how many of each state’s counties are already maternity care deserts. Other tabs show how much rural access has been lost and where more hospitals are at risk of closing. Hover any dot or state to explore.
Note: A maternity care desert is a county with no hospital or birth center offering obstetric care and no obstetric clinicians (March of Dimes). The 146 confirmed rural closures come from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. We were unable to identify an equivalent systematic count for urban closures, meaning the full national picture may be larger than what current data captures.
▼ Sources
Tiffany A. Moore Simas, MD, MPH, MEd. “Science for Living: Addressing the Growing OB/GYN Shortage and Maternity Care Crisis.” UMass Chan Medical School, October 23, 2025. umassmed.edu
Congressional Budget Office. Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21. July 21, 2025. cbo.gov
Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. “Stopping the Loss of Rural Maternity Care.” Updated August 2026. ruralhospitals.chqpr.org. The 146 figure includes announced closures scheduled to occur before end of 2026.
March of Dimes. Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2026 report and state reports (county access as of 2024). marchofdimes.org
Public Citizen. “The Big Ugly Threat to Safety Net Hospitals.” March 31, 2026. citizen.org. Precise at-risk percentages available for CT, CA, NY, MA, and WA; figures for all other states proportionally estimated.
Named closure data compiled by the Center for the American Family from Becker’s Hospital Review, CHQPR state-by-state reports, CalMatters, and dozens of local and trade outlets, 2021-2027. Hospital-level detail is maintained in CAF’s closures data sheet.
Closure dates and details for 2025 and 2026 closures were drawn from reporting and announcements by: Allina Health; Arkansas Advocate; Asante; Associated Press (via JEMS); Bar Harbor Story; Becker’s Hospital Review; CBS News Atlanta; Chicago Sun-Times; ChristianaCare; CommonWealth Beacon; Ephraim McDowell Health; FOX10; Hoodline; Indiana Public Media; Inland Empire Community News; Intermountain Health; Johnson Memorial Health; KCRG; KCTV5; KJCT8; KPAX; KUAF; Mississippi Today; MyMichigan Health; Olean Times Herald; Post Bulletin; Providence; Shaw Local; Spectrum News 13; Texas Tribune; Virginia Mercury; WABI; WDRB; WEKU; Western Mass News; WFMZ; WFTV; WTOC; WXPR.
CHQPR state-by-state rural L&D closure, access, and at-risk data table: “Stopping the Loss of Rural Maternity Care,” June 2026. ruralhospitals.chqpr.org