Less access, more death.

Regions across Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama, sorted left to right from least to most OB hospital access (birth centers per 10,000 women aged 15–44, shown beneath each bar). The U.S. national average sits on the far right for context.

Roughly half the regions exceed the national MMR. Access alone does not predict the pattern: some low-access regions have moderate mortality, and some high-access regions are among the deadliest. Geography, demographics, and policy all shape the outcome.