The Baby’s Coming. But the Hospital Is 100 Miles Away. The article describes the distress in the southeastern corner of Missouri,but could really be Anywhere...Specifically the article concerns people whose nearest obstetric facility is 50-100 miles away and they are about to give birth. Two heart-rending snippets from the article The million-dollar question is: How are people going to afford a proper raising for a baby if they can barely afford gas for a 50-mile drive to hospital? Even that drive,a 100-mile round trip,involves say,five gallons or about $15.00. Bringing a child into the world knowing that the child will in 90% of the cases be deprived of proper security,nutrition,education and opportunity is WRONG. How can it be argued otherwise? This is an issue about responsible decision-making as well as about health care.