The baby boom peaked in 1957, when about 4.3 million children were born. That number dropped below 3.7 million by 2022. West Virginia has the steepest decline in births at 62%, according to federal data cited by NPR.
Only 13 states have recorded an increase in births since 1957, and most of them are places where people have moved from other countries or states. However, even those states have seen obstetrics units close in rural areas.
The trend of smaller families is amplified in rural communities, where many young adults are moving to urban areas.
More than half of rural hospitals now lack labor and delivery services, and many hospitals cite financial losses, staffing challenges and declining birth numbers as the reasons for closing services, according to NPR. Becker’s reported in May 2023 that in rural areas, more than 200 hospitals across the U.S. had been forced to shut down delivery services in the last decade.
Patients also have shorter stays in the hospital, returning home after a night or two instead of several days as was common in the past, the report said.
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