The wave of maternity service closures has shown no signs of slowing down in 2026. As hospitals continue to grapple with persistent financial pressures, staffing shortages and falling birth rates, more facilities weigh ending labor and delivery services.
The closures add to a troubling pattern that saw Becker’s report 29 maternity care service closures throughout 2025.
Becker’s has reported on the following hospitals ending maternity care in 2026, along with closure plans, pauses and transfer statuses:
1. East Meadow, N.Y.-based Nassau University Medical Center, Nassau County’s only public hospital, has indefinitely suspended its obstetrics program. The safety-net hospital halted most deliveries May 1 after an independent patient safety review, and reopened June 12 as a limited Level 1 unit accepting only low-risk patients under 35 years old and beyond 36 weeks gestation.
“In the weeks since reopening, it has become clear that our teams need additional time and training, and the program requires a deeper review before we can deliver care at the standard our patients deserve,” Thomas Stokes, the hospital’s CEO, said in a statement shared with Becker’s.
2. Ogdensburg, N.Y.-based North Star Health Alliance plans to close labor and delivery services at its Claxton-Hepburn Medical Campus in Ogdensburg and transition obstetrical services within the Claxton-Hepburn Women’s Health Clinic amid bankruptcy restructuring. The system pointed to declining patient volume and significant costs tied to maintaining 24/7 labor and delivery services for the planned closure.
3. CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs in Iowa plans to end labor and delivery and Level 2 NICU services Aug. 31. The Omaha, Neb.-based health system will transition the services to its CHI Health birth centers in Omaha, approximately 15 minutes away, which together deliver more than 4,460 babies each year.
4. Brattleboro (Vt.) Memorial Hospital will close its obstetric service line, which includes the BMH Birthing Center, in the next six to nine months. While no final closure date has been revealed, the hospital pointed to challenges like the cost of delivering maternity care outpacing reimbursement and national birth rate declines for its decision.
5. Columbus-based OhioHealth has shared plans to end inpatient maternity unit services July 31 at OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital in Delaware, Ohio. The system said the decision comes after a review of the inpatient maternity program by a team that included specialty physicians.
6. Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare closed the Family Birth Center at its Union Hospital in Elkton, Md. on June 30 after months of close market assessment and industry analysis that pointed to an aging community. In a May 18 news release, ChristianaCare pointed to high-risk pregnancy increases and a decline in lower-acuity births, with many families better served at larger hospitals. The health system also pointed to ongoing national workforce shortages that have made it tougher to recruit and retain obstetricians and pediatricians.
7. Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health plans to end inpatient labor and delivery, newborn nursery and postpartum services at its Newark-Wayne Community Hospital in Newark in late summer to early fall, pending New York State Department of Health approval. The hospital pointed to a national and local birth rate decline and workforce challenges for the closure.
8. Mobile-based USA Health shared plans to close the labor and delivery unit at its Providence Hospital, also in Mobile, following the planned closure of Mobile OB-GYN, P.C., a non-USA Health private practice that has operated since 1953 and served as the primary provider of obstetric care at the hospital.
9. Lawrence, Mass.-based Merrimack Health plans to end maternity and neonatal services at its Methuen (Mass.) Hospital and consolidate them to its Lawrence Hospital, effective Aug. 1, pending state approval. The health system cited declining birth rates and concerns about maintaining care quality at low-volume facilities. The consolidation will affect approximately 85 staff, however, Merrimack Health expects most will be offered maternal child health positions at the system.
10. Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health discontinued labor and delivery and obstetrics services April 28 at its Baptist Health-Fort Smith campus. The decision, which will impact 40 employees, followed an analysis of the program’s long-term operational sustainability amid ongoing challenges, including increased specialized care costs. The hospital has also seen a birth decline from 92 per month to around 20 per month over the last five years.
11. Fort Mill, S.C.-based Piedmont Medical Center realigned services across its two hospital campuses. Obstetrics, labor and delivery and neonatal services came under Piedmont Medical Center Fort Mill May 12, while Piedmont Medical Center Rock Hill (S.C.) expanded trauma, surgical, neurosurgery and cardiovascular care services. The Rock Hill campus’s emergency department staff will remain equipped to care for pregnant patients seeking emergency services following the May transition.
12. MercyOne Clinton (Iowa) Medical Center transitioned labor and delivery services to other Iowa-based MercyOne birth centers in Davenport, Dubuque and Silvis. May 26 is the last day for scheduled deliveries at the hospital. The facility pointed to an inability to sustain demand for labor and delivery services, along with national challenges like increased costs, staffing shortages and reimbursement that does not fully cover care costs.
13. Weston, W. Va.-based Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital, part of Charleston, W. Va.-based Vandalia Health, ended obstetrics delivery services May 1. The hospital cited challenges to recruit full-time clinical staff and declining birth rates in the region.
14. Stanford, Ky.-based Ephraim McDowell Fort Logan Hospital moved its inpatient labor and delivery services Feb. 16 to Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville, Ky. The hospitals are part of the Danville-based Ephraim McDowell Health system and are a 15-minute drive from each other.
15. Franklin, Ind.-based Johnson Memorial Health plans to phase out obstetrics services and the maternity care center on its Franklin campus. It will also take added steps to cut costs, which includes employee reductions. The health system pointed to decreasing federal and state insurance reimbursement rates, and coverage and rising service costs for the service phase out.
16. Sweetwater (Tenn.) Hospital Association shared plans Jan. 22 to close its labor and delivery department Feb. 28. The closure was due to ongoing challenges like maintaining specialty provider coverage and financial constraints including declining patient volumes, reimbursement rates and rising operational costs, according to a Facebook post from the hospital.
Gynecology and pediatrics services will remain available at the hospital, along with outpatient services like bone density studies, breast imaging and mammography, pelvic floor rehabilitation and physical therapy.
17. Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in Fort Madison, operated by West Burlington, Iowa-based Great River Health, will shutter its inpatient labor and delivery services by the end of 2026. The decision came as part of the system’s transition to a hub-and-spoke maternal care model, consolidating labor and delivery to a central site while maintaining pre- and postnatal services locally in outpatient settings.
18. Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden, Ark., closed its labor and delivery unit Jan. 9. The decision came after efforts to maintain profitability were unsuccessful. The medical center’s CEO, Glenda Harper, who started in August 2025, initially kept the unit open to assess its viability, but found the effort unsustainable given minimal delivery volumes (just 119 in 2025), declining reimbursements and difficulty retaining OB nurses. Affected employees were offered other hospital positions.
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