The Baker City hospital announced on June 22 that its birth center will close July 30. In announcing the pending closure of the birth center in Baker City, Saint Alphonsus cited a decline in the number of babies delivered there — from 128 in 2020 to a projected 75 this year — as well as the difficulty in employing enough nurses in the obstetrics department.
Source: Regional hospitals react to closure of Baker City birthing center | Local News | eastoregonian.com
75 births per year means 1 birth about every 5 days.
For so few births, the hospital needs to retain obstetrics staff 24×7 – at least on call.
At Blue Mountain Hospital District in John Day, they now average 50 births per year or less than one per week. For comparison, the hospital in Pendleton has about 340 births per year.
Some say closures are due to the recent SCOTUS decision on abortion – however, the closures began 10 years ago because of the sharp decline in fertility rates and not enough births to keep facilities in operation. Oregon has the most liberal abortion law in the country – babies may be aborted up to the due date for any reason. These closures have nothing to do with the SCOTUS decision.
These closures are occurring all round the U.S. – another example: Closing birthing center ‘a public health emergency’ – The Durango Herald
Birth center closures, elementary and now middle and high school closures, and even colleges, are the reality of the declining fertility rate in the U.S. that has been underway for a very long time.
U.S. fertility rate through 2020
Another view: this chart shows the percent change each year. Right now, the fertility rate is about 1.8 and flat lined. Over time, the rate has gone up or down, but the trend is overall, down.
According to the US Federal Reserve (which tracks lots of data), the U.S. fertility rate hit 1.6 in 2021.
