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Eleven rural hospitals in Wisconsin stopped routinely delivering babies in the past 10 years, with the most recent obstetrics closures in Grantsburg and Ripon in 2017, according to a report this week by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health.

Five of the 35 rural hospitals still providing obstetrics are at risk of ending the service, though none say they plan to stop it, the report said.

Still, 56% of the state’s rural hospitals perform routine deliveries, compared to 40% of rural hospitals nationally. Nearly 99% of women of child-bearing age in Wisconsin live within a 30-minute drive of a hospital that provides obstetrics, the report said.

Hospitals that don’t provide obstetrics sometimes do emergency deliveries.

“While it is encouraging that no rural hospitals reported intentions of discontinuing obstetric services, it is questionable whether this event is frequently foreseen,” the report said.

“Given current trends in obstetric unit closure and provider coverage and skill maintenance issues, optimism surrounding these data should be cautious and every effort made to support continued provision of these services.”