The New York Times published a piece last week explaining a difficult situation that obstetricians and gynecologists practicing in the Bronx face. According to The Times, this borough has the city’s highest rate of life-threatening childbirth complications, and as a result, obstetricians in the Bronx end up with a greater number of malpractice lawsuits on average than those in any other part of the country.

The article explains that the financial disparity in the Bronx leads to unstable housing, unemployment, difficulty accessing healthy foods, and a lower rate of regular visits to the doctor. All of these things contribute to increased complications during pregnancy and childbirth that can result in malpractice suits against treating physicians.

According to the article, hospital administrators in the Bronx are finding it more and more difficult to recruit doctors in this field because doctors fear that spending time practicing in this borough could potentially make them unemployable elsewhere. Recruiters work to seek out physicians driven by a strong passion to help the poor — but hospitals in the Bronx continue to find themselves short on obstetricians.