BELFAST, Maine — MaineHealth Waldo Hospital has announced it is ending its labor and delivery services.
The announcement Thursday states the local board overseeing the Belfast hospital has approved restructuring the hospital's obstetrics department, which includes ending inpatient labor and delivery services as of April 1, MaineHealth said in a news release.
"The decision was ratified by the MaineHealth Board of Trustees today," the release stated.
"Hospital leaders chose April 1, 2025, to transition the program so that patients who are four or more months pregnant won’t have to change their delivery plans. That five-month window exceeds the State of Maine’s requirement of providing 120 days’ notice of such a closure," the release added.
The new structure will continue providing and expanding comprehensive pre- and post-natal care, and will partner with MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital and other nearby hospitals for labor and delivery services, according to the release.
The decision to restructure comes after a months-long review of the hospital's obstetrics program, which included extensive community outreach and input.
"We know that many people in the community feel passionately that Waldo Hospital should maintain inpatient labor and delivery services despite the significant challenges associated with doing so," Syrena Gatewood, chair of the local board that oversees MaineHealth Waldo Hospital and MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital, said in the release. "However, the facts are compelling. Our community will have access to more reliable, safer care for expectant mothers and their babies if we partner with Pen Bay to provide this service."
President of MaineHealth Waldo and MaineHealth Pen Bay hospitals Denise Needham cited consistently low birth volumes as a central issue as to why the continuation of birthing services would prove unsustainable. She said deliveries in 2023 saw a 20.4 percent decline from that of 2019. Just 109 babies were delivered at Waldo Hospital last year.
"National standards consider birth volumes under 200 deliveries annually to be 'very low,' and that, in turn, raises concerns within the industry about maintaining skills and patient safety," the release stated.
Other issues cited included difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, despite efforts to address it through aggressive recruiting, higher pay, and investments in clinical education programs, according to MaineHealth.
According to the release, Waldo Hospital has faced persistent shortages in pediatric providers, anesthesia coverage, and nurses. The hospital has also reportedly been unable to recruit two full-time staff pediatricians willing to be on call for the past three years.
"While our care team remains committed to providing exceptional care, the challenges of maintaining inpatient labor and delivery services have become too great," Needham added. "This plan will allow us to focus our resources on expanding our outpatient pre- and postnatal care services in Belfast, while ensuring that labor and delivery care is available just a short distance away at MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital."
MaineHealth said this new OB care model will make it easier to expand pediatric care at Waldo Hospital and affiliated practices, because the on-call burden will no longer be an issue when recruiting providers.
Under the new model, expectant mothers can receive their prenatal and postnatal care at Waldo Hospital but will be referred to Pen Bay for labor and delivery.
Pen Bay is located 22 miles south of Waldo.
According to Needham, no care team members will lose their jobs due to the restructuring.
"Closing inpatient labor and delivery services was a difficult decision, but it allows our team to focus on what it does best — supporting our patients and their families through the entirety of their pre-natal and post-natal care journey," Gatewood said. "By collaborating with Pen Bay, we can continue offering top-tier obstetrical services to our community."
For more details about the transition, read the full news release below.