Another Maine Hospital Ending Labor & Delivery Services

Over the last few years, hospitals announcing that they are ending their birthing services have become quite common.

While this is never a good thing, it is even more of an issue for rural hospitals.

Sadly, due to a lack of childbearing age population in such areas, the majority of hospitals closing their birthing departments are in the most rural parts of Maine.

Just days after the announcement that Waterville's Inland Hospital would be closing and that MDI Hospital was ending birthing services, we are getting word that another Maine hospital will be closing its labor & delivery services department.

Houlton Regional Hospital's Labor & Delivery Services

According to an article on the WABI website, the Aroostook County hospital's management has made the announcement that the facility will be closing its labor & delivery department in the next few weeks.

The official closing of the department will take place at 7 a.m. on May 2nd, 2025.

Officials for the hospital say the decision was "painful".

As is often the case, the main reason for the closure is a lack of patients.

A post on the hospital's Facebook page says, in part:

"Over the past several years, like many rural hospitals in Maine and across the nation, we have watched our Labor and Delivery Unit volume steadily decline, and although our nurses and our providers have gone above and beyond to maintain this service, our volumes are making it impossible to do so. We firmly believe that closing the Labor and Delivery Unit is in the best interests of our patients; our staff; and the communities we serve."

The post also explains that the OB/GYN physicians department will remain open to offer women's healthcare.

While this has become a common story, the closure of this particular labor & delivery department hits close to home.  Houlton Regional Hospital was where I was born.