Central Valley Daily

Sept. 16: This Valley County Can’t Support Expecting Mothers. Why Not?

By Elizabeth Arakelian,

Published September 16, 2025 at 4:45 AM PDT

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Madera County is one of only nine in the state where expecting mothers do not have access to birthing services. Instead, they have to travel to out of county hospitals. Journalist Tim Sheehan explains why the county’s hospital chose not to continue birthing services when it reopened – and what that means for expecting mothers.

Plus, the latest news headlines: A bill to revamp Kern County oil drilling heads to Gov. Newsom’s desk; and hundreds attend a vigil for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Central Valley Daily

Elizabeth Arakelian

A Valley native, Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree in English Language Literatures from the University of California, Santa Cruz and her master's degree in journalism from New York University. She has covered a range of beats. Her agriculture reporting for the Turlock Journal earned her a first place award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

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Jonathan Linden

Jonathan Linden is a podcast producer at KVPR. Born and raised in Riverside, he's a Southern California native. Jonathan's passion for public radio began at a young age when his brother would play NPR while driving him home from middle school. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Biola University in 2019.

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