Prevalence and County-Level Distribution of Births in Catholic Hospitals in the US in 2020

Citation

Cartwright, Alice F.; Bullington, Brooke W.; Arora, Kavita S.; & Swartz, Jonas J. (2023). Prevalence and County-Level Distribution of Births in Catholic Hospitals in the US in 2020. JAMA, 329(11), 937-939. PMCID: PMC10031385

Abstract

Catholic hospitals comprise a growing sector of the US healthcare marketplace, with the number of them increasing 28% from 2001 to 2020. Hospital adherence to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services limits people’s access to contraception during their delivery hospitalization and standard treatment of obstetric complications. This is increasingly important given evolving state-level threats to comprehensive reproductive health care, such as abortion bans. This study described the volume and distribution of births in US hospitals with Catholic affiliations and quantified county-level patterns of Catholic and non-Catholic hospital births.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.0488

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2023

Journal Title

JAMA

Author(s)

Cartwright, Alice F.
Bullington, Brooke W.
Arora, Kavita S.
Swartz, Jonas J.

Article Type

Research Letter

PMCID

PMC10031385

Data Set/Study

American Hospital Association (AHA) Study

Continent/Country

United States of America

State

Nonspecific

ORCiD

Cartwright - 0000-0002-1557-8062
Bullington - 0000-0002-3341-087X