![]() ![]() She sums up the situation in four words: “This is not okay.” And even if they do, they often don’t have gas money. They make the trip for regular doctor’s visits during the nine months of pregnancy as well, packing a bag of snacks, some water, and driving more than an hour just to get their vitals checked and hear the baby’s heartbeat.īaker said the OB-GYN shortage makes pregnancy hard for a lot of women in the northern reaches of Pennsylvania, especially because many people don’t have cars. ![]() This is life for many pregnant moms in rural America: hoping that they’ll make it to the hospital before the baby arrives. When she had her son, she brought him home on an hourlong journey through a January snowstorm. For pregnant women and their babies the stakes are high: America has the highest maternal mortality rate among industrialized countries.īaker made it to the hospital to deliver her daughter. Experts predict it will only get worse, expecting a shortage of 8,000 OB-GYNs nationwide by 2020. In rural America, the country’s shortage of obstetricians and gynecologists is perhaps most keenly felt. And if not, what happens then?”īaker lives in rural Pennsylvania, near the New York border. ![]() “Like, especially for my first one, because you don’t know what to expect. “I was scared - like, ‘Are we going to get there in time?'” Baker said. As they bumped along country roads, she imagined frightening scenarios, and giving birth to her daughter along the side of the road. Shawnee Baker was in labor - and her husband was trying his best to get her to the hospital in time. ![]()
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