Maternity Care Access and Infant Mortality.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Infant mortality, ie, death within the first year of life, serves as a critical health indicator.

Objective

To evaluate the association of maternal residence in counties with no or limited access to maternity care with infant mortality overall and by maternal race and ethnicity and timing of death.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study used cohort-linked birth/infant death records for live births to US residents from 2017 to 2021, collected from the National Center for Health Statistics. Statistical analyses were conducted from July 2024 to June 2025.

Exposures

Maternity care access by maternal county residence. Care access was categorized as none, low, moderate, or full based on availability of obstetric hospitals and birth ce

SUBMITTER: Lucas R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12606374 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature