ICYMI: Iowa Doesn’t Have Enough OBGYNs. The State’s Abortion Ban Might Be Making It Worse

Rural hospitals in Iowa have been struggling to find more OB-GYNs Under Republicans’ Abortion Ban

Des Moines – Iowa has the lowest number of OBGYNs per capita and the Republicans’ abortion ban may only be making that worse, according to KFF.

A recent study in Idaho found that two years after the state enacted its highly restrictive abortion law, 35% of the state’s 268 OB-GYNs had stopped practicing obstetrics.

KFF dug into whether Iowa’s abortion ban is affecting providers and spoke to OB-GYNs and the next generation of doctors who have already left Iowa or are debating whether to practice here.

David Paul Cavazos, an executive with Grinnell Regional Medical Center, said the 49-bed hospital has been trying to recruit an OB-GYN and a family practice doctor with obstetrical training for more than a year. The hospital has seen a jump in deliveries after the Newton Medical Center closed its labor and delivery unit.

On-call doctors have been delivering “five babies on Saturday, six babies on Sunday,” Cabazos said. This adds even more stress to already overworked doctors.

Jonna Quinn, who grew up in West Bend, gave up her job working as an OB-GYN in Mason City when the local hospital started restricting birth control options and fertility treatments in 2024. Not only did she leave Mason City – she left Iowa entirely. Quinn’s unit was short-staffed and she was seeing up to 50 patients a day by the time she left.

“That is twice what a normal OB-GYN will see in a day,” Quinn told KFF. “I knew I was going to miss something, because there’s no way somebody can function at that level.” 

Karla Solheim was working in the Quad Cities when she performed an abortion on a patient who had life-threatening complications. She was peppered with questions by hospital administrators. 

At her previous job in the Quad Cities, Solheim performed an abortion on a patient who had life-threatening complications, she said. It spurred many phone calls from hospital administrators

“Did I have enough evidence? Was her blood count low enough that her life was in danger? Should we have waited until her blood pressure got lower?” they asked her.

Solheim recently stopped delivering babies to focus on gynecology and outpatient care, saying she had become exhausted working in Iowa hospital units that didn’t have enough obstetricians.

KFF also spoke to a fourth-year medical student who is studying in Iowa and who identified themselves as E. and they are seriously debating whether they want to stay in-state.

Studies show that insufficient maternity care is linked to low birthweight and increased infant and maternal mortality.

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