National Study Finds About One-Third of Eligible FQHCs Lack Onsite Prenatal Care

An observational study published July 14 in Annals of Internal Medicine analyzed 1,326 FQHCs operating in 2024 after excluding U.S. territories and centers serving fewer than 100 adult female patients. About two-thirds provided onsite prenatal care and about one-third did not.

Onsite care was more common among urban centers and centers serving higher proportions of Black, Hispanic, Medicaid, and limited-English-proficiency patients. The researchers also found that maternity-care deserts often had no FQHC or had an FQHC without onsite prenatal services.