Syphilis and mortality rates among US babies are on the rise, reversing years of progress - Vox

A big part of the problem is related to the hollowing out of rural health care. As rural fertility declines and rural areas lose maternity wards and hospitals — largely because of the high cost of maternity care, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining staff, and several states' refusal to expand Medicaid — pregnant people in rural areas are finding it increasingly hard to find care. According to the March of Dimes 2022 report, two-thirds of maternity care deserts are rural…

…In the wake of the Supreme Court decision eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, maternal care providers are leaving red states that have chosen to tighten abortion restrictions due to concern they won't safely be able to provide the full spectrum of maternity care. Additionally, medical trainees are avoiding these states because they know that in a state that does not permit abortion, they won't get training in a key part of pregnancy care…

https://www.vox.com/23952456/syphilis-mortality-death-infant-newborn-congenital-babies-prenatal-maternity-pregnancy-desert