---
title: Through the Desert
description: What are maternity care deserts and what can be done to address the staggering gaps in prenatal care.
image: https://blog.maranihealth.com/hubfs/Desert.png
---
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- [About](https://www.maranihealth.com/about/)
- [Solutions](https://www.maranihealth.com/solutions/)
- [Team](https://www.maranihealth.com/team/)
- [News](https://www.maranihealth.com/news/)
- [Blog](https://www.maranihealth.com/blog/)
- [Contact](https://www.maranihealth.com/contact/)
INTRODUCTION
# Through the Desert
**Marani CEO talks about maternity care deserts and what they are doing to improve on the Often Imitated podcast.**
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Highlights and key takeaways from a conversation between Ben Wilson, Oracle’s [Often Imitated](https://oftenimitatedpodcast.com/) Podcast host, and [Ann Holder](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneholder/), CEO & Founder of [Marani](https://www.maranihealth.com/).
Every year more than [500,000](https://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/2020-Maternity-Care-Report.pdf) babies are born to women with limited or no access to maternity care. They live in maternity care deserts defined by the March of Dimes as “counties in which access to maternity health care services is limited or absent, either through lack of services or barriers to a woman’s ability to access that care.” With [7 million American women of childbearing](https://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/2020-Maternity-Care-Report.pdf) age in these areas, the disproportionate access of care impacts the health of many moms and babies. Without access to routine, quality health care, there is an increased chance of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, including low birth weight and preterm birth.
In a recent [*Often Imitated*](https://oftenimitatedpodcast.com/) episode, Through the Desert, Marani’s Founder & CEO, Ann Holder, shares how Marani uses data to give pregnant women the quality of care they need and maternity care deserts the information they deserve: Listen to the full recording of this conversation, and checkout our three takeaways in the following posts.
## For more on this two-part series, see [Part 1:](https://blog.maranihealth.com/blog/leavingmothersinthedust)[Leaving Mothers in the Dust](https://blog.maranihealth.com/blog/leavingmothersinthedust) and stay tuned for [Part 2: Serving the Underserved](https://blog.maranihealth.com/blog/servingtheunderserved).
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