Maternity Care Deserts

Women are struggling to access maternity care, leading to an increase in maternal and infant deaths

Today on the Suburban Women Problem we talk to Amanda Zurawski about how she turned a difficult situation into incredible advocacy. She was denied the abortion care she needed and now she’s the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state of Texas over the medical exceptions in her state’s abortion ban. 

Listen to the episode here and make sure you have tissues nearby. Amanda’s story is heart wrenching. 

Even though Amanda had access to good maternal healthcare, she still almost died. So what happens to the women who don’t have access to any maternal healthcare? 

Data from March of Dimes shows that more women are struggling to access care before, during and after pregnancy, which can be attributed to a 4 percent decrease in birthing hospitals in one year, and the loss of 301 birthing units since 2018 in the U.S.

“It’s a crisis,” said Stacey Brayboy, the senior vice president of public policy and government affairs at March of Dimes. “Women are struggling to access care, and we’ve seen an increase in terms of maternal and infant deaths.”

And it’s likely to get worse as anti-abortion laws limit the number of physicians willing to practice in several states because they face restrictions on their ability to provide abortions and abortion-related care. They also risk prosecution in certain states for being involved in facilitating abortions.

Jamila Taylor, president and CEO of the National WIC Association told Politico that “Abortion providers, OB-GYNs, and nurse practitioners are being pushed out of certain parts of the country that do have these restrictive abortion laws. That’s having a spillover effect for those that want to continue their pregnancies.”

Without access to prenatal care, pregnancy carries a lot more risk including preterm birth and maternal mortality. Throughout our country maternal mortality rates are already at a 60 year high. In addition, without pregnancy care services, a pregnant person might have to deliver in an emergency department where that care isn't a core part of services.

Julia Strasser, assistant research professor of health policy and management at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health, told ABC News “Because of this, people living in maternity care deserts without access to abortion may have to continue a dangerous pregnancy or one they don't want, and may also struggle to find the care they need during that pregnancy and delivery.” 

She went on to say that abortion and maternity care are related. It takes the same clinical skill set to provide abortion care as it does to respond to things like miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. "There's not a bright red line between abortion care and the rest of pregnancy care," says Strasser. "It's really a compounding issue."

Yet extremists want to conflate all reproductive healthcare issues, which means restrictive abortion policies affect all aspects of our reproductive healthcare system and how we access it. As you heard on the pod with Amanda’s story, abortion bans have nearly killed women who wanted to be pregnant.

No matter what aspect of reproductive freedom matters to you, it’s so important that we stay up to date on this rapidly changing situation and share this information with everyone you know. This year we are fighting to protect the reproductive freedom of all women.

To keep up with what’s happening with abortion and healthcare, check out Red Wine & Blue’s ‘The More You Roe’ page where we answer all of your questions about reproductive healthcare.