TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Fischer, Stefanie
AU  - Royer, Heather
AU  - White, Corey
        TI  - Health Care Centralization: The Health Impacts of Obstetric Unit Closures in the US
        PY  - 2023/Mar/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 15987
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp15987
        AB  - Over the last few decades, health care services in the United States have become more geographically centralized. We study how the loss of hospital-based obstetric units in over 400 counties affect maternal and infant health via a difference-in-differences design. We find that closures lead mothers to experience a significant change in birth procedures such as inductions and C-sections. In contrast to concerns voiced in the public discourse, the effects on a range of maternal and infant health outcomes are negligible or slightly beneficial. While women travel farther to receive care, closures induce women to receive higher quality care.

        KW  - maternity ward
KW  - maternal health
KW  - infant health
KW  - closure
KW  - obstetric
KW  - hospital quality
        ER  -