Texas’ public and teaching hospitals are best known for their clinical teaching mission and their commitment to caring for underserved populations. They are also more likely than other hospitals to still provide labor and delivery services.

While more than 500 hospitals nationwide have stopped providing labor and delivery services since 2010, according to a recent New York Times report, and 47 percent of Texas counties are defined as maternity care deserts, Texas’ teaching and public hospitals remain committed to providing the service.

“THOT members distinguish themselves in all sorts of ways, and a near-universal commitment to providing labor and delivery services is one of the most impactful,” said Maureen Milligan, PhD, CEO, Teaching Hospitals of Texas. “A healthy delivery is the key to a healthy future.”

Of the hospital members of the Teaching Hospitals of Texas, all but two, which are specialty hospitals (cancer and pediatrics), have continually maintained labor and delivery services. Seven of the state’s just 32 hospitals that have earned the highest level of maternity care designation (Level IV) are THOT members. In addition, U.S. News & World Report named two of THOT’s members – Parkland Health and the University of Texas Medical Branch — as a 2025 High Performing Hospital for Maternity Care. The award is the highest a hospital can earn as part of U.S. News’ Best Hospitals for Maternity Care annual study.

Texas Medicaid covers about 50 percent of births in the state, and program underpayment means hospitals must subsidize the labor and delivery service with revenue from other service lines and sources. The costs to maintain labor and delivery services are also higher because of the need to have 24/7 availability of specialists who can perform C-sections and manage other medical emergencies before, during, and after delivery for mom and baby.

With Texas’ growing population, and much of it currently under age 18, the need for hospitals to invest in and sustain timely access to pre-natal care and labor and delivery today and into the future is critical.

“Texas’ teaching and public hospitals share an expansive mission to make sure all Texans have the care they need, from specialty care for the rarest of conditions to routine preventive care, and that includes pre-natal and obstetrics care,” added Milligan.