Where have all the doctors gone?

There’s never been enough doctors in rural Wyoming, where I live, but a shortage of obstetricians is now increasing the risks for pregnant women across the state—and the nation.

In the last decade in Wyoming, three hospitals have closed their maternity ward. That includes Rawlins, where pregnant moms now have to risk travel on Interstate 80—notorious for weather-related closures—to deliver their babies in Laramie, 100 miles away.

But Wyoming isn’t the only state to face inadequate maternal care: Less than half of the rural hospitals in America even offer labor and delivery services.

Gwenith Wa...