United States | News & Politics

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And because the county, one of Alabama’s largest, is bordered by another whose hospital also lacks an obstetrics unit, some of those residents are also losing the closest place they could go to deliver their babies.

Physicians currently or formerly affiliated with the Alabama maternity units about to close fear the consequences for pregnant women and babies, especially if people are not able to reach birthing hospitals quickly enough in emergencies.

“People are going to show up delivering in the ER, and you’re going to have bad outcomes,” said Dr. Jesanna Cooper, an OB-GYN who formerly worked at Princeton Baptist Medical Center, the Birmingham hospital closing its maternity services.

Nationally, fewer than half of rural hospitals have labor and delivery services, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, a policy-focused nonprofit.

Dr. Rowell Ashford, an OB-GYN with Cahaba who practices at Princeton and Shelby, said that living far from a hospital with obstetrics care can discourage patients from getting health issues checked out.

The hospital — located in an area in which 40% of the residents live in poverty — welcomes doulas, boasts a diverse obstetrics team, has staff specially trained to support moms in breastfeeding and provides water tubs to patients in labor.

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