Birth dearth fallout.

In Japan, where the population is aging and the birthrate is falling, the number of obstetricians declined by more than 5% between 2000 and 2004. (1) About half of obstetricians are at least 50 years old, and the majority of younger obstetricians--those in their 20s and 30s--are women, many of whom who will retire when they have children of their own. With many established obstetricians shifting their practices exclusively to gynecology, decreasing numbers of medical students choosing to specialize in obstetrics and maternity wards closing or being consolidated, pregnant women often need to go to great length s to get delivery care. Some make an appointment as soon as they learn their due date; others have to travel substantial distances, even if they are experiencing complications. In remote areas, an unlikely technological device provides a bridge between patients and faraway doctors: Machines used to monitor pregnant women transmit data in real time to obstetricians' cell phones; when a doctor judges a woman is about to go into labor, she is sent to the nearest maternity ward.

(1.) Onishi N, In Japan's rural areas, remote obstetrics [ills the gap, New York Times, Apr. 8, 2007, <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/world/asia/08japan.html? pagewanted=1&_r-1>, accessed Apr. 11, 2007.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.