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
139 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies since 2020.3 More than 35% of U.S. counties 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 data on how much access has already been lost and where more hospitals are at risk of closing. Hover any dot or state to explore.
Note: The 139 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 & Methodology
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.” June 2026. ruralhospitals.chqpr.org. The 139 figure includes announced closures scheduled to occur before end of 2026.
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 from Becker’s Hospital Review, CHQPR state-by-state reports, CNN, CBS Atlanta, and the Georgia Recorder, 2021-2026. Named closures represent a documented sample. No equivalent systematic count for urban closures was identified.
Bonner General Health closure: TODAY.com, April 2023. today.com
Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside closure: News4Jax, January 18, 2023. news4jax.com
Baptist Medical Center Nassau: Baptist Health press release. Maternity services temporarily paused for $8.5M renovation; unit has not yet reopened. baptistjax.com
ChristianaCare Union Hospital Family Birth Center closure: ChristianaCare News, May 19, 2026, and The Baltimore Banner, June 2026. news.christianacare.org
Grady Memorial Hospital (Delaware County, OH) closure: The Ohio Newsroom / Ideastream Public Media, July 6, 2026. ideastream.org
Claxton-Hepburn Medical Campus (Ogdensburg, NY) closure process: North Country Now, July 14, 2026. northcountrynow.com. Closure process announced; subject to a required state public hearing before finalized.
Highland District Hospital (Hillsboro, OH) L&D closure: Highland County Press, via Ohio Capital Journal, April 7, 2023. ohiocapitaljournal.com
MyMichigan Medical Center (Tawas City, MI) obstetrics unit closure: Bridge Michigan, July 2026. bridgemi.com
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
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (Brattleboro, VT) planned closure: VTDigger, July 2, 2026. vtdigger.org. Board vote to close within 6-9 months; not finalized, contingent on securing emergency or state funding.
Copley Hospital (Morrisville, VT) Birthing Center closure: VTDigger, June 20, 2025 and November 7, 2025. vtdigger.org