Quality health care is a fundamental right, yet many women, particularly those in underserved communities, continue to face significant barriers. The United States is faced with an urgent maternal and infant health crisis where over 5.6 million women of childbearing age reside in counties with limited or no access to maternity care. That’s why serving women with mobile health clinics is indispensable for addressing maternal and reproductive health disparities. Mobile maternal health, mammography, and medical screening clinics offer on-the-ground health services
aimed at bringing support, education, and care to moms and moms-to-be. Mobile clinics break down barriers to healthcare by bringing medical services directly to women who typically lack access to them, ensuring that essential services reach those who need them most. As hospitals and other healthcare organizations introduce mobile clinics into their businesses, we can improve outcomes by transforming the way women receive quality care.
Mobile health clinics reach vulnerable and marginalized women, such as migrants, uninsured and homeless pregnant women, and children, throughout rural and poor urban areas. They quickly adapt to meet the changing needs of the communities they serve. Staffed by obstetricians, gynecologists, nurse practitioners, and sometimes neonatal nurses, mobile clinics provide high-quality care for maternal and reproductive health.
The Need for Mobile Health Care for Marginalized Women and Babies
Many women in rural and low-income urban areas face substantial obstacles in accessing maternal and reproductive health care. Lack of transportation, little or no insurance, other financial constraints, and provider shortages are significant barriers that can lead to delays in receiving prenatal care, jeopardizing their health and that of their baby. Beyond maternal health, these women do not receive contraceptive education and services, and they are too often unable to get important cervical and breast cancer screenings. To combat this issue mobile health clinics bridge the gap to bring medical professionals and services directly to women where they live and work. And though rare, some mobile clinics offer in vitro fertilization (IVF) services. However, the logistics of providing IVF services to patients who are far away can be challenging.
Cervical Cancer: Women’s Health Screenings are not Limited to Mammograms
It’s widely known that countless lives are saved by using mobile health clinics for mammograms. However, these medical clinics on wheels are also used for Pap tests as the primary screening method for cervical cancer. In fact, among developed countries, the United States has the highest average survival rate for breast cancer but the lowest for cervical cancer.
Of eleven OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, the U.S. is more than five percentage points higher than average for breast cancer survival. Yet, as illustrated in the table below, the survival rate for cervical cancer among U.S. women is the lowest of all eleven countries.
| Country | Survival Rates for Breast Cancer | Country | Survival Rates for Cervical Cancer |
| US | 90.2 | NOR | 73.3 |
| AUS | 89.5 | SWIZ | 71.4 |
| SWE | 88.8 | SWE | 68.3 |
| CAN | 88.2 | NETH | 67.5 |
| NOR | 87.7 | NZ | 67.4 |
| NZ | 87.6 | CAN | 66.6 |
| FRA | 86.7 | AUS | 66.4 |
| NETH | 86.6 | GER | 65.2 |
| SWIZ | 86.2 | FRA | 65 |
| GER | 86 | UK | 63.8 |
| UK | 85.6 | US | 62.6 |
Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable with early detection and treatment. Nonetheless, every two minutes, a woman dies from this disease, and nearly 90 percent of cervical cancer deaths occur in regions with severely limited access to preventive care.
Cervical Cancer Statistics
The five-year survival rate for cervical cancer in the United States varies depending on the stage of the cancer at diagnosis and differs by region, distance, and race.
- Early stage: About 92% of women survive five years or longer after being diagnosed with early-stage cervical cancer.
- Late stage: Only about 17% of women survive five years or longer after being diagnosed late stage.
- Regional: 61%.
- Distant: 19%.
Survival rate by race
- Non-Hispanic Black women: 58%.
- Non-Hispanic White women: 67%.
Survival trends
- Using mobile clinics for routine screenings can help detect cervical cancer early for underserved women — when it’s curable.
- Survival trends vary by stage, race, and region and can be positively impacted when delivering care to women where they live.
Mobile Clinics Serve Pre and Post-Natal Patients
Prenatal care checkups from a doctor, nurse, or midwife throughout pregnancy help ensure that the mom and baby stay healthy. Postnatal care can be just as important, and it involves physical, emotional, and social transformations that both the mother and baby experience in the weeks and months following delivery. In fact, mobile health clinics are often used to provide perinatal mental health services. Perinatal mental health conditions are more common in rural communities than in
urban areas due to a number of factors, including stigma, poverty, and, most importantly, limited access to care.
Mobile clinics provide access and treatment for women experiencing mental health issues during or after pregnancy, including depression, anxiety, and postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is often overlooked, stigmatized, or ignored by the mother’s support network. Immediate intervention can help a new mother bond more with their baby, make healthier choices, and even stave off suicidal emotions.
Routine screening for mental health during prenatal and postpartum visits can save lives. Expanding patient access options is crucial to reaching the most vulnerable women and identifying potential issues. However, all of these plans and good intentions will not work without reducing stigma, educating healthcare professionals and the public about perinatal mental health, and providing accessible support groups.
Conclusion
Mobile health clinics are often the only mode of healthcare that serves on the front lines of women’s health. Their positive impact on rural communities and the urban poor is a game changer with disparities among race and class growing each year.
Addressing these disparities in healthcare is essential for promoting equity and enhancing the nation’s overall well-being and economic growth. Racial and ethnic health disparities contribute to higher rates of illness and mortality across various health conditions. Research indicates that these disparities lead to significant costs, including increased medical expenses, lost productivity, and economic losses from premature deaths. As the population grows more diverse, tackling these disparities becomes even more critical. According to projections from the U.S. Census Bureau, people of color will make up 52% of the population by 2050, with the most significant growth among individuals identifying as Asian or Hispanic.
| People of Color are Expected to Make Up Over Half of the U.S. Population by 2050 | ||
| 2022 | Race | 2050 |
| 3% | Other | 5% |
| 6% | Asian | 9% |
| 13% | Black | 13% |
| 19% | Hispanic | 25% |
| 59% | White | 48% |
As healthcare disparities persist, so do mortality rates. In 2022, black infants faced more than twice the risk of death compared to white infants (10.9 vs. 4.5 per 1,000 live births), while American Indian and Alaska Native infants also experienced over double the mortality rate of white infants (9.1 per 1,000 live births). In addition, women of color had the highest pregnancy-related mortality rates occurring within one year of pregnancy.
The benefits mobile health clinics bring to caring for pregnant and postpartum women cannot be understated. As unlikely as it seems, the U.S. is far behind other industrialized countries in maternal morbidity and mortality. Social and economic factors rooted in racism and inequity result in marginalized Indigenous and black women having a two to three times higher risk of death during pregnancy than their white counterparts. Women of color and low income often have significant barriers to receiving reproductive services, insurance, and prenatal and postpartum care. Without the aid of mobile health clinics, pregnant and new mothers who live in care deserts do not have access to the necessary screenings and treatments until it is too late.
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