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In just a little over a month, on April 1, Waldo Hospital will close its birthing unit — a move that will make Waldo County the first in the state that doesn't have a single hospital that can deliver babies.

The hospital has cited declining birth rates and staffing shortages as reasons for the closure. It's part of a larger trend: eight other hospitals in the state have closed or announced plans to close their birthing units in the past decade.

This week, our community news fellow Emily Hedegard teams up with our editor Kate Cough to dig into the issue, speaking to doctors, patients and many others impacted by the shift.

It's the first piece in a series exploring maternity care in Maine; future installments will look at the role of midwifery and potential solutions. Stay tuned, and let us know what you think: if you or someone you know has had trouble getting maternity care in Maine, or if you're aware of creative solutions to the care gap, we'd love to hear from you.

We also have some exciting newsroom news, as three new staff members have joined the team. They will focus on education reporting, audience engagement and fundraising. Read more about them below, and don't hesitate to say hi. 

— Stephanie

Nine Maine hospitals have closed or announced plans to close their birthing units in the past decade. The closures have hit rural areas particularly hard.

Last year saw the announcement of birthing unit closures at hospitals in Belfast and Waterville, both of which will cease offering the service this spring. In 2023, hospitals in York, Rumford and Fort Kent announced closures; the year before saw the shuttering of the birthing unit at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston.

On average, rural Mainers whose closest hospital doesn’t have a birthing unit are now driving 45 minutes one-way to the nearest birthing hospital, according to a recent analysis by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, the longest drive time in New England. 

Rural residents carrying high-risk pregnancies may be forced to go even farther — to Bangor, Portland or in rare cases Boston — for a specialist’s care. 

Read this story by Emily Hedegard and Kate Cough.

A new bill could make it easier for Mainers to get small loans. It would also allow lenders to charge more: Supporters claim the measure would help people in need of emergency funds, but opponents say it would undo protections against predatory lenders. Read this story by Rose Lundy.

While home insurance rates spike elsewhere, Maine leads country in stability: Maine has been the least impacted by climate change-fueled insurance rate increases nationwide, report finds. Read this story by Emmett Gartner.

Regulators move forward with compensation rules for solar on farmland: The new rules, developed at the request of the legislature, seek to find a way to protect Maine’s rare high-value agricultural land from development. Read this story by Kate Cough.

We welcomed three new staff members this month: Kristian Moravec has joined the newsroom as an education and workforce development reporter, Elle Darcy has joined as an audience engagement coordinator, and Greg Bates has joined as the institutional giving manager of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which publishes The Maine Monitor. 

Read more about them here. 

The last maternity unit in Washington County gets creative to stay open

(Published in June 2023)

A shuttering of the service, says a Machias doctor, means babies and mothers would die.

Read this story by Kate Cough.

Have feedback or a correction to send to Stephanie McFeeters? Send it to her directly via email: stephanie@themainemonitor.org. 

Know of a story that we should be digging into? Send it to our newsroom. 

The Maine Monitor is a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit news organization. We believe news is a public good and keep our news free to access. We have no paywall and do not charge for our newsletters. If you value the reporting we do for Maine, please consider making a donation! We cannot do this reporting without your support.