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A new report from the University of Kansas School of Nursing reveals that 59% of women in Kansas lack local access to inpatient maternity services, forcing many to travel long distances for care. The report, produced with the Kansas Center for Rural Health and funded by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, highlights the growing maternal-care desert in the state.

Over the past decade, many rural hospitals nationwide—including in Kansas, which ranks second after Texas in rural counties—have closed or stopped offering maternity services. These closures increase risks for mothers and babies, including preterm births, more NICU admissions, and higher maternal mortality.

The report details access to prenatal and perinatal care by county and ZIP code, showing that many women travel up to 60 miles for low-risk care, and nearly 30% live over 100 miles from high-risk services. Forty-two counties, mostly in western Kansas, lack anesthesia providers. Rural counties with higher birth rates are losing access to vital maternity care, exacerbated by inadequate Medicare reimbursements that fail to cover the cost of round-the-clock, multidisciplinary maternal care.