The MaineHealth board of trustees decided to shut down the labor and delivery unit at MaineHealth Lincoln Hospital in Damariscotta after much deliberation and community opposition. The closure is scheduled for December 18, with services moving to MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick. This decision will lead to the 12th maternity unit closure in Maine since 2015, leaving Lincoln, Waldo, and Sagadahoc counties without hospitals offering childbirth services. As a result, less than half of Maine’s 34 hospitals will provide birthing facilities.
Governor Janet Mills, U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree, gubernatorial candidates, and others urged the hospital to postpone their decision and maintain birthing services in Damariscotta. The board stated that no further labor and delivery units would close in the next two years. They also urged state lawmakers and the upcoming governor to convene hospitals, doctors, and other stakeholders to find solutions for challenges facing labor and delivery services in rural areas. The health system cited low birth rates and recruitment difficulties as reasons for the closure.
“Maternity care requires a dedicated team available 24/7 to handle routine deliveries and emergencies,” said the Thursday press release. The management concluded that they could not devise a staffing model to secure long-term, safe care.
The health system described this transition as part of a “new regional model” linking OB-GYN services at hospitals in Damariscotta and Brunswick. Lincoln Hospital will still offer prenatal and postpartum care, including ultrasounds, fertility services, and counseling. Additionally, it will expand gynecologic outpatient and surgical services, but labor and delivery services will not be available. Patients will have to go to Brunswick or another hospital of their choice for childbirth.
This decision followed months of tension between MaineHealth and community activists. The grassroots group Miles Delivers Action Coalition emerged after initial discussions about the closure. They have publicly challenged the hospital’s rationale, conducted meetings with MaineHealth leadership, and organized several protests, including one in Portland days before the scheduled vote. The group vowed to utilize all legal, regulatory, legislative, political, and community avenues to safeguard patients and maternity care in Lincoln County.
“A hospital where you can no longer be born is hardly a hospital at all,” the group stated. A pregnant woman from Lincoln County due in January filed a lawsuit, supported by the coalition, aiming to prevent the vote on closure. A judge denied the request for a preliminary injunction, noting the lawsuit assumed a closure decision before the board’s final vote. The lawsuit also seeks a permanent injunction to avert the maternity unit’s closure, pending resolution.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree criticized the decision, stating it would harm mothers, babies, and families in Lincoln County. She highlighted that women would continue to give birth but farther from home and with fewer safety measures.
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