Ob Hospitalist Group (OBHG) and March of Dimes have launched a new two-year partnership focused on raising awareness of maternity care access challenges and advancing practical approaches that help hospitals preserve and expand obstetric services nationwide. The collaboration was announced alongside March of Dimes' "Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S." 2026 report, which found that one in three U.S. counties remains a maternity care desert despite calls for change. March of Dimes president and CEO Cindy Rahman said the 2026 findings show millions of women and babies still face significant barriers, and that continued closures threaten to widen those gaps, underscoring the need for strong collaboration.
The partnership pairs March of Dimes' research, advocacy, and convening expertise with OBHG's on-the-ground experience supporting hospitals and health systems. Across more than 300 hospitals and health systems in 42 states, OBHG brings physicians, CNMs, and other maternal health clinicians to expand workforce capacity, strengthen continuity of care, and keep obstetric services available locally. OBHG's 2025 Maternal Health Impact Report documented 36,278 prenatal visits for patients in maternity care deserts and more than 3,000 deliveries supported in high-need communities between August 2024 and July 2025, reinforcing the scale of impact this new collaboration aims to build on.
Read the full report: Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S.
Resources
March of Dimes Report OBHG Executive Summary
Press release: Ob Hospitalist Group and March of Dimes announce new partnership to advance maternity care access
Ob Hospitalist Group March of Dimes Partner page
Media coverage
TIME: More than a third of U.S. counties are maternity care deserts
ABC News Live Prime: Nowhere to Go: Dr. Mark Simon on the March of Dimes Report and the Rise of Maternity Care Deserts
WLBT3: Mississippi ranks last in infant and maternal health, March of Dimes report finds
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