New York, Dec 5 (IANS): Over 500 hospitals have closed their labour and delivery departments since 2010, leaving most US rural hospitals and more than a third of urban hospitals without obstetric care, according to a large new study.

It was found that those closures were slightly offset by the opening of new units in about 130 hospitals. Even so, the share of hospitals without maternity wards increased every year, according to the study published Wednesday in JAMA, a prominent medical journal.

Maternal deaths remained persistently high over that period, spiking during the pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency.

Because its data runs only through 2022, the study does not account for the additional challenges that hospitals have faced since the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade that year and led many states to restrict abortion. States with abortion bans have experienced a sharp decline in their obstetrician workforce.

Hospitals are closing their obstetric units in part because those departments tend to lose money, the researchers said. Medicaid, the public insurance program for the poor, covers more than 40 per cent of all births in the United States and typically pays doctors and hospitals much less than private insurance does.

"Hospital administrators often consider the revenue that each bed generates, creating pressure to favour more expensive services. Running a labour and delivery unit can be exceptionally costly because it requires round-the-clock coverage from specialists who can assist in cesarean sections or other medical emergencies," said The New York Times in its report about the study.