A Connecticut hospital has suspended childbirth services and notified the state health department that it will soon file a public notice to permanently end the services, according to The Day.
Windham (Conn.) Hospital intends to continue providing prenatal and postpartum care and enhance its women's health services. It will provide expectant mothers with transportation to Norwich, Conn.-based Backus Hospital, which is 17 miles away, or to another hospital of the patient's choosing for delivery.
"We have exhausted all other options," Donna Handley, president of Hartford HealthCare's East Region, which includes Windham and Backus hospitals, said in a July 6 statement.
The number of births at Windham Hospital have consistently declined, from more than 400 in 2012 to a projected 93 in 2020. From Oct. 1, 2019, to March 31, the hospital had 45 births, the fewest of any hospital in the state.
"Mothers are choosing to have their babies at hospitals that perform a greater number of births," Ms. Handley said. "I understand and support the decision for mothers to choose what is best for themselves and their babies."