Publication Date: May 19th, 2026
Publication Type: Data Resource
Topic(s): Critical Access Hospitals, Health Disparities and Health Equity, Healthcare Access, Hospitals and Clinics, Maternal Health, Rural Statistics and Demographics, Women
Author(s): Interrante JD, Sheffield EC, O'Hanlon K, and Kozhimannil KB
Ensuring obstetric care access and reducing maternal mortality in rural and underserved areas is a key focus of national, state, and local policies. Providing accurate and updated information on obstetric service availability in rural and urban communities is essential in fulfilling this goal.
The goal of this project was to create an annually updated database of obstetric unit closures by state and county, and to make that information publicly available to inform research, policy, and public health decisions on rural maternity care access and rural maternal health. This data resource is a county-level dataset containing the county FIPS code, state, and an indicator of whether each US county had hospital-based obstetrics care in each year, 2010-2024. It is available for download as an XLS file.