To analyze the spatial distribution of women of childbearing age and the allocation of resources for maternal and neonatal care, and to assess the spatial accessibility of critical maternal care resources, providing a scientific basis for optimizing resource allocation.

Taking the critical maternal care centers in Jiangsu Province in 2024 as the supply side and the population of women of childbearing age in Jiangsu Province as the demand side, the comprehensive service capacity index was constructed using the entropy weight method. The spatial accessibility of resources was evaluated using the shortest distance method and the Gaussian two-step floating catchment area method.

The distribution of women of childbearing age was mainly concentrated in the urban areas of Nanjing, Suzhou, and Wuxi. 92.91% of the critical maternal care centers were located in the top 20% of areas with the highest population density of women of childbearing age. The proportions of provincial, municipal, and county-level critical maternal care centers were 19.69%, 21.26%, and 59.06%, respectively. They were allocated 35.08%, 21.41%, and 43.51% of the bed resources and 37.03%, 21.60%, and 41.36% of the physician resources, respectively. The average annual delivery volume was 4 874.32 cases, 2 472.48 cases, and 1 628.47 cases, respectively. In terms of time cost, the average time for women of childbearing age in the province to reach the nearest critical maternal care center was 18.74 minutes. 69.81% of women of childbearing age could obtain care services within 15 minutes, 27.40% of the population needed 15-30 minutes, and 2.79% of the population needed more than 30 minutes. From the perspective of supply and demand, when the time thresholds were 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 45 minutes, the proportions of the population with good or better accessibility were 16.69%, 24.42%, and 29.03%, respectively.

The spatial accessibility of critical maternal care resources in Jiangsu Province is generally good, but the distribution of obstetrician resources does not fully match the population distribution. The accessibility level of resource allocation in some areas such as Dongtai City and Xiangshui County in Yancheng City still needs to be improved. The "abundance and high quality" in resource-intensive areas has not been fully transformed into fairness and accessibility. It is recommended to enhance the fairness and efficiency of resource allocation through measures such as balancing supply and demand and improving management and service capabilities.