Maternity wards across the United States are experiencing closures as federal Medicaid funding cuts begin to take effect, according to warnings from experts. Analysis by the non-profit Protect Our Care indicates that 52 maternity wards have closed since the HR1 bill was announced in July 2025, with an additional eight having announced their upcoming closure.
The HR1 bill, which is set to be fully implemented in the new year, will introduce new work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks for many adults covered by Medicaid. It will also reduce federal funding for states for Medicaid. Hospitals such as Centra Southside Community hospital in Virginia and St Mary’s Sacred Heart hospital in rural north-east Georgia have cited upcoming federal policy changes to Medicaid as a reason for permanently closing their maternity wards.
Experts anticipate further closures of maternity units both before and after the federal Medicaid changes come into effect in the new year. Erin Jones, senior director of legislative and strategic counsel at the non-profit March of Dimes, expressed concern that these changes will worsen an existing maternity care crisis, particularly in rural communities. The organisation has identified 31 at-risk rural hospitals with labor and delivery services, which, if closed, could leave 96 counties without a unit.
Benjamin Sommers, a professor of healthcare economics at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, stated that the Medicaid changes will "absolutely" affect pregnant women and specialist pregnancy organisations. He noted that while new work requirements for Medicaid are intended to exempt pregnant women, his research suggests many women are not enrolled in the Medicaid pregnancy pathway, meaning states may not be aware of their pregnancy status.
Separately, in early 2025, the entire team for the CDC’s pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system was placed on administrative leave by the Trump administration. An upcoming report, authored by academics and former CDC staff, suggests these actions disrupted the collection and management of crucial data on women's experiences before, during, and after pregnancy.