Alabama creates more maternity care deserts as labor units are shuttered

[USincognito]

Fears rise as 3 maternity units prepare to close in Alabama

The state has one of the country’s highest maternal mortality rates. Now, three hospitals plan to stop delivering babies, putting some pregnant women at even higher risk.

www.nbcnews.com

>> By the end of the month, two Alabama hospitals will stop delivering babies. A third will follow suit a few weeks later.

That will leave two counties — Shelby and Monroe — without any birthing hospitals, and strip a predominantly Black neighborhood in Birmingham of a sought-after maternity unit.

fter that, pregnant women in Shelby County will have to travel at least 17 miles farther to reach a hospital with an OB-GYN. 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.

“There’s a sense of dread knowing that there’s going to be families who are now not only driving to the county over, but driving through three counties,” said Honour McDaniel, director of maternal and infant health initiatives for the March of Dimes in Alabama.

People in Monroe County, meanwhile, could face drives between 35 to 100 miles to a labor and delivery department. <<

The culture of life strikes again.

>> The state has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country; only three others had higher rates between 2018 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alabama also had the nation’s third-highest infant mortality rate in 2021, the latest data available. <<

 

[essentialsaltes]

More counties could lose obstetric care in Alabama: ‘Labor and deliveries don’t make money’​

The closure of three labor and delivery departments in less than one month [OP] will leave two counties without services for laboring moms and many wondering what comes next.

Since 1980 the number of rural hospitals with labor and delivery departments has fallen from 45 to just 16, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Closures have also hit Southern states hard, including several that have not expanded Medicaid.
--
In 2016, [Dr. Waits] and his colleagues worked to reopen a labor and delivery unit in Bibb County, using federal grants and support from residency training programs. Before the department reopened, the infant mortality rate in Bibb County hovered at around 12 deaths per 1,000 live births. After labor and delivery reopened, it fell to eight per 1,000 births.

“It’s not rocket science,” Waits said. “Having a labor and delivery open means more babies are going to live. That’s what we’re all worried about in Monroe in Shelby counties.”

 

[Pommer]

More counties could lose obstetric care in Alabama: ‘Labor and deliveries don’t make money’​

The closure of three labor and delivery departments in less than one month [OP] will leave two counties without services for laboring moms and many wondering what comes next.

Since 1980 the number of rural hospitals with labor and delivery departments has fallen from 45 to just 16, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Closures have also hit Southern states hard, including several that have not expanded Medicaid.
--
In 2016, [Dr. Waits] and his colleagues worked to reopen a labor and delivery unit in Bibb County, using federal grants and support from residency training programs. Before the department reopened, the infant mortality rate in Bibb County hovered at around 12 deaths per 1,000 live births. After labor and delivery reopened, it fell to eight per 1,000 births.

“It’s not rocket science,” Waits said. “Having a labor and delivery open means more babies are going to live. That’s what we’re all worried about in Monroe in Shelby counties.”

The for-profit healthcare system fails at delivering healthcare?
No!?

 

[Larniavc]

Alabama

'Murica. The Duke of Alabama should be ashamed.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

That's very horrible. It's very dangerous for baby and mom. For a state, that abortions are illegal, except in emergency. Don't seem to care about babies at all.

 

[essentialsaltes]

‘On life support’: Hospital officials warn dozens of rural Alabama hospitals are at risk of closing their doors​

More than a dozen rural hospitals in Alabama are at immediate risk of closing, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment and Reform’s annual study on the topic.

Nearly 300,000 low-income Alabamians fall into this coverage gap because they make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private health insurance. Alabama is one of 10 states that has yet to expand Medicaid, whereas 41 other states, including D.C. have adopted Medicaid expansion.

Howard says Alabama’s hospitals provide more than $650 million in uncompensated care every single year, and the math for staying open doesn’t add up.

 

[Nithavela]

The silence of the "pro-life" crowd in this thread is everything one needs to see to know what they're all about.

 

[Hazelelponi]

The culture of life strikes again.

Or just poverty.

The hospitals are apparently, according to your article, closing due to staffing shortages (not enough physicians wanting the work).

It's speculated, again according your article, that the staffing shortages are caused because half the births in the state are Medicaid births and Medicaid doesn't actually reimburse the real costs... So basically half the work you do is out of the kindness of your heart and your own pocket.

Seemingly not a lot of professionals want to work for free. Who'd of thunk it? Lol...

Should women get more abortions so we don't have to worry about delivering babies for free or something? I don't understand why anyone is upset about pro-life anything...

Maybe we should be incensed that Medicaid doesn't reimburse our physicians and hospitals enough? I think that's the sane thing to come away from this article with... But that's just my opinion.

 

[Nithavela]

Or just poverty.

The hospitals are apparently, according to your article, closing due to staffing shortages (not enough physicians wanting the work).

It's speculated, again according your article, that the staffing shortages are caused because half the births in the state are Medicaid births and Medicaid doesn't actually reimburse the real costs... So basically half the work you do is out of the kindness of your heart and your own pocket.

That is not what the article is saying at all. In fact, it's the opposite of what the article is saying.

The problem is that there are people in Alabama who aren't on medicaid, but still can't afford birth care, so the hospitals are working for free on them and can't afford it.

 

[A2SG]

That is not what the article is saying at all. In fact, it's the opposite of what the article is saying.

The problem is that there are people in Alabama who aren't on medicaid, but still can't afford birth care, so the hospitals are working for free on them and can't afford it.

Which perfectly illustrates why this country needs a comprehensive single payer health system.

-- A2SG, the sooner, the better....

 

[Hazelelponi]

That is not what the article is saying at all. In fact, it's the opposite of what the article is saying.

The problem is that there are people in Alabama who aren't on medicaid, but still can't afford birth care, so the hospitals are working for free on them and can't afford it.

Since only 9% of Alabamas residents are completely uninsured but 50% of all births are Medicaid births I'd say the issue the article is bringing to the table is that Medicaid reimbursements are not high enough to cover costs.

Since the 9% figure of uninsured is information drawn from the census bureau we don't have any idea how that figure actually impacts births at all.

I'll quote the relevant portion from the article here again for everyone's benefit:

"In some cases, keeping maternity units open is a financial challenge, since the departments aren’t always profitable, several Alabama physicians said. Around 9% of the state’s residents have no health insurance, according to a report from the Census Bureau, and almost half of the births in Alabama are covered by Medicaid. Reimbursements for that program can be substantially lower than for private insurance plans.

“Nobody wants women and children to do poorly, but you also can’t lose money year over year on a service line,” said Dr. John Waits, CEO of the nonprofit Cahaba Medical Care, which runs medical clinics that take patients regardless of their ability to pay. Several of Cahaba’s physicians deliver babies at Princeton Baptist and Shelby Baptist.

“There’s something broken about the funding stream that helps us take care of our women and children,” Waits said.

Such challenges are not isolated to Alabama."


The quoted complaint above, from the article, specifically targets inadequate reimbursement from the government, while also bringing up it might not be a standalone issue in play with the hospital closures.

 

[Hazelelponi]

The silence of the "pro-life" crowd in this thread is everything one needs to see to know what they're all about.

The pro life crowd is unsure how this affects the pro life crowd or the pro life position, since this has nothing to do with pro life anything and most people would agree with the article that reimbursements from Medicaid to physicians and hospitals are too low.

 

[Nithavela]

The pro life crowd is unsure how this affects the pro life crowd or the pro life position, since this has nothing to do with pro life anything and most people would agree with the article that reimbursements from Medicaid to physicians and hospitals are too low.

I agree that high maternal mortality rates have nothing to do with the real focus of the pro-life crowd.

 

[Nithavela]

Since only 9% of Alabamas residents are completely uninsured but 50% of all births are Medicaid births I'd say the issue the article is bringing to the table is that Medicaid reimbursements are not high enough to cover costs.

Since the 9% figure of uninsured is information drawn from the census bureau we don't have any idea how that figure actually impacts births at all.

I'll quote the relevant portion from the article here again for everyone's benefit:

"In some cases, keeping maternity units open is a financial challenge, since the departments aren’t always profitable, several Alabama physicians said. Around 9% of the state’s residents have no health insurance, according to a report from the Census Bureau, and almost half of the births in Alabama are covered by Medicaid. Reimbursements for that program can be substantially lower than for private insurance plans.

“Nobody wants women and children to do poorly, but you also can’t lose money year over year on a service line,” said Dr. John Waits, CEO of the nonprofit Cahaba Medical Care, which runs medical clinics that take patients regardless of their ability to pay. Several of Cahaba’s physicians deliver babies at Princeton Baptist and Shelby Baptist.

“There’s something broken about the funding stream that helps us take care of our women and children,” Waits said.

Such challenges are not isolated to Alabama."


The quoted complaint above, from the article, specifically targets inadequate reimbursement from the government, while also bringing up it might not be a standalone issue in play with the hospital closures.

I think that one of the main problems is that childbirth in the USA is too expensive in general. The average cost of vaginal childbirth in the USA is close to 15k dollars, with almost 3k out of pocket for insurance owners.

How Much Does It Cost To Have A Baby? 2024 Averages

Having a baby is one of the most momentous experiences of your life, but it can also be one of the most expensive. Spending money on essentials like baby furniture, a stroller and diapers can add up more quickly than you expect. You might also be surprised to see your hospital bill after delivery.

www.forbes.com

In germany, the same services cost 2k to 3k Euros, with insurance providers usually covering 100 % of those costs.

 

[Hazelelponi]

I agree that high maternal mortality rates have nothing to do with the real focus of the pro-life crowd.

It's due to circumstances of being both in poverty and not having access to hospitals in emergencies.

That's not what pro-life deals directly with.

All pro life does is share with women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy that there are alternatives to abortion available... Help them set up with the kind of help they may need.

Pro-life groups don't run hospitals, open them or close them.

However, being pro-life is also caring about people and about the kind of policies we create that either help or harm women in poverty... And I'm all for policies that actually help women in need.

Perhaps the government does need to do more about helping hospitals stay open and staffed in poverty stricken rural America. Rural American citizens are the people often overlooked and taken the most for granted in this country today because they are often largely white communities, a skin color facing large amounts of racism against them in our nation today.

I'm all for supporting our own citizens instead of the citizens of other nations. It's what a government should care about.

 

[Nithavela]

It's due to circumstances of being both in poverty and not having access to hospitals in emergencies.

That's not what pro-life deals directly with.

All pro life does is share with women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy that there are alternatives to abortion available... Help them set up with the kind of help they may need.

Don't sell yourself short. Pro-life does far more than that. For example, pro-life actively lobbies for abortions to become harder to procure, if not illegal.

 

[Hazelelponi]

Don't sell yourself short. Pro-life does far more than that. For example, pro-life actively lobbies for abortions to become harder to procure, if not illegal.

I believe I said:

being pro-life is also caring about people and about the kind of policies we create that either help or harm women in poverty.

Perhaps you didn't hear it.


Abortion harms. Directly harms. It seeks only to harm.

But this isn't a thread about abortion. It's about rural hospitals closing due to staffing shortages.

 

[Nithavela]

I believe I said:



Perhaps you didn't hear it.


Abortion harms. Directly harms. It seeks only to harm.

But this isn't a thread about abortion. It's about rural hospitals closing due to staffing shortages.

You are absolutely right. This thread is only about the health of mothers and children and not about what pro-life is all about.

 

[Hazelelponi]

This thread is only about the health of mothers and children and not about what pro-life is all about

What do you think a pro life lobby even can do here?

Killing children isn't the answer here, in case you thought it needed to be.

Hospitals close in poor white rural America due to staffing shortages and suddenly it's the pro-life peoples fault why?

Do you think we should go through Alabama slaughtering babies because doctors don't find it advantageous to deliver prenatal and natal care to poor white women?

The accusations make no sense to me.

I think when the concerns of those in poverty are answered with "kill your offspring" that's advice you don't take and the people you don't listen to.

 

[Nithavela]

What do you think a pro life lobby even can do here?

Killing children isn't the answer here, in case you thought it needed to be.

Hospitals close in poor white rural America due to staffing shortages and suddenly it's the pro-life peoples fault why?

Do you think we should go through Alabama slaughtering babies because doctors don't find it advantageous to deliver prenatal and natal care to poor white women?

The accusations make no sense to me.

I think when the concerns of those in poverty are answered with "kill your offspring" that's advice you don't take and the people you don't listen to.

There is no accusation here, just the observation that pro-life is only concerned with abortions and their prevention, not with any other issue concerning the preservation of life. Your posting behaviour in this thread itself demonstrates this perfectly.

I'm sure that there are people who are pro-life and also want this problem to be solved. Some might even be able to think of solutions that don't involve "kill your offspring". I myself can think of three solutions from the top of my head.