WINDHAM, Conn. — Expectant mothers in Northeastern Connecticut said they are living in a maternity care desert, which is a place without local options for labor and delivery services.
“There have been a number of labor and delivery units particularly in small rural hospitals that have closed around the country,” Deidre Gifford, executive director of Connecticut's Office of Health Strategy, said. “It’s a trend that poses a real challenge for women’s health.”
The nearest hospital to them is Windham, which stopped performing births in June 2020.
Some families now drive 40 minutes for labor services or they are forced to deliver babies in distress. Brenda Buchbinder, from Windham United to Save our Healthcare Coalition, recalled a recent incident at the Windham Hospital.
“In comes a very pregnant woman and her partner into the next room,” Buchbinder said. "The baby is born so there’s an emergency room birth. Then that baby was whisked away into an ambulance.”
Windham Hospital, which is owned by Hartford HealthCare, is not alone.
The American Hospital Association said nearly half of rural community hospitals do not offer medical care for women before, during and after pregnancy. That includes childbirth.
More than 217 U.S. hospitals closed their obstetric units since 2011, according to healthcare consulting firm Chartis. The reasons are all the same: low demand, staffing shortages and financial challenges.
But those whose lives are affected by the closures said those reasons do not justify putting health and safety at risk.
“There is no sane reason why this hospital has been dismantled here. We are the only Hartford HealthCare hospital that has been gutted this way,” Buchbinder said.
A similar scenario played out at Sharon Hospital in Northwestern Connecticut when the medical provider planned to close the labor unit in 2021. After pushback and intervention by state Attorney General William Tong, Northwell Health and Nuvance Health reached an agreement to continue delivery services.
When the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy approved Hartford HealthCare’s plan to close the labor unit at Windham, they did so on the condition that the healthcare giant would continue to provide prenatal and post-partum care at the Windham women’s health clinic.
Hartford HealthCare also agreed to find another birthing center provider for the region as well as free transportation for expectant families.
The timeline of that birthing center is currently unknown.
Bridgette Bjorlo is an anchor/reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at bbjorlo@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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