In recent years, rural obstetric unit closures have continued to occur in communities across the U.S., and COVID-19-related policies have attempted to address workforce challenges, yet burnout has exacerbated clinician shortages. State scope of practices laws, as well as Medicaid and other insurance and payment policies, have a profound impact on access to midwifery care and midwife-attended births. As more rural hospitals have closed their obstetric units, as scope of practice and payment policies have changed, and as the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the clinician workforce, it is important to investigate the current status of midwifery care in rural communities and to describe rural-urban differences.

The goal of this project is to describe the current midwifery workforce at rural hospitals that provide obstetric care and to assess rural-urban differences in midwifery care at the time of childbirth.

Publications

• The Availability of Midwifery Care in Rural United States Communities
  Journal Article
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 07/2024
  In this paper, researchers addressed the limited understanding of the current landscape of rural midwifery providers, describing the availability of local midwifery care in rural U.S. communities using a national survey of rural U.S. hospitals.
• Rural-Urban Differences in Midwifery Care During Childbirth in the U.S.
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 07/2024
  This infographic provides a snapshot of rural-urban differences in midwife-attended births, including changes over time as access to rural obstetric care declined and severe maternal morbidity and mortality rose across the United States.