Family Physicians Providing Obstetric Care in Maternity Care Deserts

Many communities in the United States have few or no clinicians providing maternity care services, contributing to a national maternal and infant mortality rate that is much higher than that in comparable developed countries.' The March of Dimes defines maternity care deserts (MCDs) as counties that have no hospitals providing obstetric care and no practicing obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) or certified nurse midwives (CNMs).(2) However, this definition excludes the thousands of family physicians who provide maternity care, particularly in rural areas.(3,4) We sought to determine the extent to which family physicians provide obstetric care within MCDs throughout the United States.