As a year-round resident of Mount Desert Island, I am angered and saddened by the upcoming closure of the labor and delivery unit at MDI Hospital. My husband and I selected MDI over the farther, larger hospitals because of the unit’s reputation for excellent maternal care. The team there did more than deliver our child. We had compassionate, competent support from individuals who understood that childbirth is not a medical illness, but a profound and life-changing experience that was truly empowering.

Most hospital care is designed to treat disease. Birth is fundamentally different; it’s not a problem to fix, but a process to undergo. The hospital’s proposed alternative, “relying on emergency response teams if someone goes into labor,” is not just inadequate, it’s unsafe. Knowledge of the clinical mechanics of childbirth is not the same as knowing how to support a woman through labor. This plan increases the risk of trauma and unnecessary interventions and will decrease dignity and agency for any woman who has the misfortune to deliver there. It will turn a natural experience into a crisis response.

I understand there is a decline in births and that there are other challenges behind the hospital’s decision. This closure, like others in rural areas, is part of a larger health care crisis. But I also believe that as these services disappear, so does our community. We have to come together to creatively solve problems. MDI Hospital still has a choice: Choose dialogue. Choose care. Choose community.

Kate Stitham
Bass Harbor