Labor and delivery services will be discontinued at MaineHealth Waldo Hospital in Belfast next spring. It's the latest in a string of hospital maternity closures in recent years.
Waldo Hospital president Denise Needham said there simply aren't enough babies being born to sustain labor and delivery services. Since 2019, they've declined 20%, she said.
"We're anticipated to birth about 109, 110 deliveries throughout the course of the year, which means that some months we'll go down to birthing as low as four babies," Needham said.
Combined with a persistent shortage of nurses, anesthesiologists, and pediatricians, Needham said it's also difficult to provide around-the-clock coverage.
As of April 1, expectant moms will be directed 40 minutes away to MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital in Rockport to deliver. But Needham stresses that Waldo Hospital is also expanding pre- and post-natal care.
"Communities that have created a complete void of all obstetric services are the communities that really suffer the most," she said. "And so we weren't looking to do that, because we understand the importance of having local pre- and post-natal care."
The Belfast obstetric unit closure follows similar changes at three hospitals last year: Rumford, York, and Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent.
