Expectant mothers on Chicago's South Side have been left with fewer options to help deliver their babies with the closing of the maternity ward at Roseland Community Hospital.
The closure was made official at 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
When the hospital announced last month that the unit would be shut down, officials cited declining birth rates and financial constraints. The hospital's chief executive officer said fewer than 50 babies were on track to be delivered there by the end of the year.
But residents were left worried about the consequences.
"Having the need, the care that you need when you're in labor, or giving birth, it's important," said community member Carolyn Wilson. "It's very important."
Community activists point blame for potential impacts of the maternity unit closing, leaving patients to travel at least 20 minutes away for the nearest such services.
"Because of the negligence, the negligence of elected officials and anybody that's in the health care industry that don't want to come out, don't want to fight for this labor department to stay open," said crisis responder Andrew Holmes.
Obstetrics services have also recently ended at St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet and Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago's Norwood Park neighborhood.
Leaders at Roseland told CBS News Chicago about the deepening concerns the maternity ward closures may have on surrounding communities.
"I'm fearful that the persistently elevated rate of moms — Black and Brown moms, mainly — dying in childbirth will continue to elevate," said Dr. Joy West, Chair of the OBGYN Department at Roseland Community Hospital/
The concerns were echoed by longtime community members in the unit's final hours.
"My children were born here, and there's other children that need to be born, and we don't need to have to go way somewhere else to have our children be born," said community member Antonie Turner.
With the labor and delivery unit closing at Roseland, the next closest for many patients is Advocate Trinity Hospital, where the obstetrics unit is also set to close next year.
