The state has one of the country’s highest maternal mortality rates. Now, three hospitals plan to stop delivering babies, putting some pregnant women at even higher risk.
The state has one of the country’s highest maternal mortality rates. Now, three hospitals plan to stop delivering babies, putting some pregnant women at even higher risk.
It’s the republican evangelical/christian way. Defund anything that actually helps people and line the pockets of the lobbyists. It says to do this right in the Bible of course
“Nobody wants women and children to do poorly, but you also can’t lose money year over year on a service line,” said Dr. John Waits, CEO of the nonprofit Cahaba Medical Care, which runs medical clinics that take patients regardless of their ability to pay
Will get ever change how they vote? Will they ever realize that voting for the same idiots is how they got here? How many of them have to personally lose a baby or a wife before even reconsidering?
I've also often thought to myself, "You know who has it too good? Poor black mothers and children in the deep south, especially Alabama. Someone should fix that".
Since we both READ THE ARTICLE, I know you also agree with me...right?
Fuck everyone in this thread cheering this on. This is NOT the schadenfreude you think it is.
Read the article you dipshits. This is not impacting the wealthy, or white areas, it's impacting the poor black ones.
All you lazy armchair activists are cheering on the actions that are guaranteed to raise the black infant mortality rate in Alabama even higher than it already is.
They'll still be delivering babies, just doing it in the ER without specialists. You think maternal mortality is high now, they're going for a New High Score!
Which is frankly terrifying. ER docs are only required to do 10 deliveries during residency, which are often as glorified observers. I did nearly 100 deliveries in my rural unopposed FM residency and that was no where near enough to feel comfortable making it a part of my practice.
One issue with mother baby units is they are loss leaders. This is why not every hospital has them. They only drain money from a hospital. If the hospital has other money making specialists bringing in the cash, then the mother baby unit can stay.
The other piece is a hospital can only have units for the medical specialists they can attract. If, say, they can’t find cardiologists then there will be no cath lab, and patients needing that care will have to be transferred elsewhere. If, say, Alabama is having a hard time attracting OBGYNs due to archaic laws regarding women’s medical care, then the unit would have to close even if the hospital has no financial reason to do so.
The article strongly suggests that the maternity unit closings are due to the financials, not Alabama 's recent laws against abortion. I wish they had explored these new laws as a cause (anti abortion laws was the primary cause for closings in Idaho).