Many people do not consider the location of their local hospital when thinking about planning to give birth. However, your distance from a major city may impact the chance of a birth injury happening.
How does a hospital’s rural location potentially increase the chance of injury at birth to a baby?
Low supply levels
Mayo Clinic discusses the rate of birth injuries among babies born in rural clinics. One of the leading impacting factors is the level of supplies.
Smaller hospitals do not typically have stock of lesser-used items or medical equipment and often have to send individuals who need more intensive care to larger hospitals. This is true in complicated birth scenarios, too.
Variations on policies
Areas that have smaller populations often need different policies than areas with large populations, like big cities. Thus, one-size-fits-all rules for birth may cause confusion and trouble among workers attempting to figure out how to deal with new complications or issues.
The confusion can even lead to medical errors that can contribute to the chance of a birth injury happening.
No varied opinions
Hospitals in dead zones and geographically rural areas do not have as strong of a network as hospitals in more urban areas. This makes it much harder to reach out to other experts and get advice and opinions when coming across situations that no one on-site knows how to deal with.
This lack of secondary and tertiary opinions can potentially lead to a staff making the wrong decision, which could put a person and their baby at risk.
