Saint Anthony Hospital Sustains Chicago OB Unit With Midwifery Model
Becker's Hospital Review reports that at least 26 hospitals have ended maternity care in 2026, including four in the Chicago area within six weeks, with at least 10 Chicago South Side and south suburban hospitals closing maternity wards over the past seven years, per an Oct. 31 NBC Chicago report. Saint Anthony Hospital, an independent community hospital on Chicago's Southwest Side, has instead averaged more than 1,000 deliveries a year since 2023. CEO Dorval Carter Jr. attributes this to a midwifery-led model dating back roughly 20 years and to referral relationships with federally qualified health centers that run their own midwifery programs. Carter cites inadequate reimbursement for deliveries and litigation risk as key pressures driving OB closures elsewhere, alongside declining birth rates in the Chicago market.