Access to life-saving care increasingly challenging for rural women, write women's health advocates

Decreasing access to health care is having a devastating impact on rural women, write Drs. Roberta Gebhard and Eliza Lo Chin. Gebhard is the president of the American Medical Women's Association and Chin is the organization's executive director. They write:

"Almost 30% of women age 18 or older live in rural communities, and the effects of their declining access to healthcare are continuing to compound. Rural women are at greater risk of poor health and disease, and often have limited access to preventive screenings and mammograms. Pregnant women in rural areas also face incredible difficulty accessing the necessary maternity care, as only 6% of the nation’s OB-GYNs work in rural settings. As less than half of rural women live within a 30-minute drive of the nearest hospital offering obstetric services, and only about 19% of family physicians in rural areas offer these services, pregnant women in these areas are forced to travel long distances for prenatal care." 

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