Obstetric Deserts

There’s a lot of talk about obstetric deserts, but few stories about practicing in them. For 25 years, as part of North Dakota Medical School program, I taught family practice residents how to manage obstetrics in rural areas. For 20 years I actually practiced in obstetric deserts.

In my previous article on obstetric deserts, I reported seven layers of administrators which I regarded as equivalent to the nine levels of hell in Dante’s Inferno. There are numerous problems in obstetric deserts which could be easily remedied, but, unfortunately, there are too many administrative layers to bring about even the smallest of corrections.

A day in the life of a rural obstetrician can be very lonely.

The hospital receptionist paged me as I was making rounds. One of my patients had just come in the door and told the receptionist “I think I’m in labor. I’ve just driven 35 …