Nov 4, 2022 3 min read

Six of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties now are ranked as “maternal care deserts,” according to a new March of Dimes report.

According to the report, Greene, Cameron, Forest, Juniata, Sullivan, and Wyoming counties are classified as deserts because “there were no hospitals providing obstetric care, no birth centers, no OB/GYN and no certified nurse midwives.”

The report uses data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

“The latest data show that in Pennsylvania, more than 105,000 women 18-44 years of age live in counties with little or no obstetric care. That is completely intolerable,” said Acting Secretary of Health and Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson, who appeared earlier this week during an appearance to address maternal health deserts and Black maternal health disparities across Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, the six counties considered maternity care deserts is up from five counties in the previous report.

Areas where there is low or no access affect up to 6.9 million women and almost 500,000 births across the U.S.

There’s a 2% increase in counties that are maternity care deserts since the March of Dimes 2020 report. In all, there are 1,119 U.S. counties and an additional 15,933 women with no maternity care.

Washington Health System, which includes WHS Greene and Washington Hospital, operates an obstetrics outpatient office in Waynesburg to provide care, but a birthing center is available only at Washington Hospital. Otherwise, pregnant women must travel to another county in the state or to West Virginia.

According to the DOH, the overall maternal mortality rate in Pennsylvania is 82 deaths per 100,000 live births. For Black Pennsylvanians, who are already disproportionately impacted by poverty and have less access to adequate health care, the mortality rate is 163 per 100,000 live births.

“Black women experience the highest number of maternal mortality rates in comparison to any other subgroup in the United States,” said LaDeshia Maxwell, executive director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on African American Affairs. “It is important that in Pennsylvania, we do everything that we can to ensure Black women have access to quality, equitable maternal care. Maternity care deserts only make it more difficult for Black women to receive the care they need for the issues that are ‘common’ for our demographic, such as hypertension. As we examine the findings of the March of Dimes report, I urge that we consider increasing the number of maternal care providers in Pennsylvania and better support Black women health-care providers who are doing the work to ensure that Black women are receiving quality care.”

Johnson noted potential solutions to the maternal deserts and disparities in care are being developed, including expanding doula care access and midwifery services, providing satellite obstetric clinics, increasing home visiting programs, providing incentives to get more OB/GYNs and midwives into the communities that need them, and using mobile units to deliver care.