Research finds that lack of access to reproductive care worsens birth outcomes
Tulane study looked at distance from abortion facilities as one of measures
A new study indicates that a lack of access to comprehensive reproductive care may increase the risk of preterm birth.
The researchers analyzed National Center for Health Statistics data on all live births occurring in the US in 2020. They used data on locations of abortion facilities and availability of maternity care to classify counties by level of access to comprehensive reproductive health care services. They defined comprehensive reproductive health care deserts as counties that did not have an abortion facility in the county or any neighboring county and did not have any maternity care practitioners.
“Geographic access to care may influence the risk of reproductive health adversities both directly—by prolonging the time taken to transfer for services needed in high-risk cases such as postpartum hemorrhage—and indirectly, by delaying entry into prenatal care, reducing prenatal care visits, increasing scheduled cesarean deliveries, and increasing labor inductions for people living too far to travel during labor,” the researchers wrote.
Dr. Maeve E. Wallace, MPH, Dr. Dovile Vilda, Lauren Dyer, Iman Johnson, and Lillian Funke were the authors behind the study.
According to the study, the logistical barrier for people seeking abortion care posed by a lack of geographic access to care may be compounded by myriad other constraints, including financial hardships, misinformation at crisis pregnancy centers, and state policies that restrict access based on a person's age, the gestational age of their pregnancy, their insurance type, and other legal parameters. People who continue a pregnancy—by choice or by necessity—may experience delayed and inadequate prenatal care or adverse reproductive health outcomes as a result.
“Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive health care services is likely to increase the incidence of and inequities in preterm birth and the long-term health consequences experienced by preterm infants in childhood and adulthood,” the study concludes. “Ongoing efforts are needed to address declining access to both abortion care and maternity care in the US.”