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. 1990 Jul;80(7):814–818. doi: 10.2105/ajph.80.7.814

Access to obstetric care in rural areas: effect on birth outcomes.

T S Nesbitt 1, F A Connell 1, L G Hart 1, R A Rosenblatt 1
PMCID: PMC1404977  PMID: 2356904

Abstract

Hospital discharge data from 33 rural hospital service areas in Washington State were categorized by the extent to which patients left their local communities for obstetrical services. Women from communities with relatively few obstetrical providers in proportion to number of births were less likely to deliver in their local community hospital than women in rural communities with greater numbers of physicians practicing obstetrics in proportion to number of births. Women from these high-outflow communities had a greater proportion of complicated deliveries, higher rates of prematurity, and higher costs of neonatal care than women from communities where most patients delivered in the local hospital.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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