Problems of Maternity Medicine in Depopulated Areas

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1.Distribution of maternity hospitals in JapanDistribution of maternity hospitals was visualized as a map. In depopulated areas, many regions with no maternity hospital were detected form the map.2.Current conditions of pregnant women living in depopulated areaPregnant women in depopulated areas took remarkably longer time and felt remarkably severe burden for attending maternity hospitals than pregnant women in urban areas. Pregnant women who needed more than 30 min to reach their maternity hospitals felt burden with high percentage.3.Current conditions of maternity hospitalsQuestionnaires were sent to and collected from obstetrical and/or gynecological hospitals in Chugoku and Shikoku areas. Almost half of the hospitals which had gynecological department did not have obstetrical department. Almost half of the hospitals which had gynecological department but not had obstetrical department had closed down the obstetrical department in the last 10 years. It was estimated that approximat … More ely 5 percentage of pregnant women needed more than 60 min for attending their maternity hospitals. Half of the obstetricians answered that a pregnant woman who needed more than 60 min for attending her maternity hospital was clinically risky.4.ConclusionOur research revealed that pregnant women living in the depopulated areas felt burdens for the distance to attend their maternity hospitals and that obstetricians was afraid pregnant women living in the depopulated areas would get into clinical trouble. It was suspected that the disparity of distribution of maternity hospitals between rural and urban area would expand more than now. However, this problem was less acknowledged than the problem of the emergency care sections of pediatrics departments. It is dispensable to inform the problems of maternity medicine in depopulated areas to the public, and to make regional plans that assures adequate distribution of maternity hospitals in collaboration with the national and/or local governments. Less