Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality After Delivery Hospitalization Among Rural Residents Bypassing Local Care for Urban Hospitals

Do rural residents who bypassed local communities for delivery at urban hospitals (nonlocal delivery) have higher postpartum severe maternal morbidity and mortality (SMMM) than rural local and urban births?In this cohort study of 235 375 births in South Carolina, nearly one-half of rural deliveries occurred at nonlocal hospitals. Rural nonlocal deliveries had the highest 1-year postpartum SMMM risk, even after adjusting for maternal and hospital factors.In this cohort study, rural nonlocal births were more likely to experience SMMM than urban and rural local births, underscoring the need for targeted discharge planning and postpartum care coordination for rural deliveries in nonlocal settings.

Corresponding Author: Peiyin Hung, PhD, MSPH, Department of Health Services Policy hungp@mailbox.sc.edu).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.