Vol 1: birth stats
The Numbers MaineHealth Used to Build Its Closure Case Don't Hold Up
At two public forums in June 2026, Lincoln Hospital President Cindy Wade stated the basis for the proposed closure:
"Currently, our labor and delivery service is under stress for two primary reasons: physician recruitment and low birth volume."
Unlike recruitment, birth volume is a public record. The figures MaineHealth used to establish it don't hold up.
MaineHealth stated
"Lincoln Hospital averages roughly 120 births a year."
— John Martins, MaineHealth spokesperson, Maine Public, May 15, 2026
Misleading birth count claims
Facility-level data show Miles handled 101 births in 2022, 132 in 2023, and 132 in 2024. The 2022–2024 average is 121.7, and if one rounds down it lands at "roughly 120."
But that is not the number MaineHealth used when pressed in public two weeks later. MaineHealth's own forum materials — presented two weeks after MaineHealth stated "roughly 120" — put the three-year average at 130 births per year. Maine Public separately reported that annual births at Lincoln had grown from roughly 100 to 130 in recent years.
MaineHealth first gave the public the lower framing, then acknowledged the current figure was materially higher. The first number made the unit look weaker than it is. Facility-level data going back to 2019 show why the "roughly 120" framing was misleading: the unit was in the middle of a 43% post-COVID growth run.
Dashed line: MaineHealth figure given to press, May 2026. Data: Mills, "Maine's Rural Maternity Crisis," Maine Policy Review 34.2 (2025), Table 2; Maine CDC ODRVS facility birth counts.
MaineHealth stated
"Lincoln Hospital has delivered 32% of expected mothers from Lincoln County."
— Cindy Wade, Lincoln Hospital President, Lincoln County News, June 2, 2026
Gaps in the numbers
MaineHealth's own forum materials say Lincoln Hospital averaged 130 deliveries per year over the last three years. Maine CDC vital statistics show Lincoln County has roughly 260 resident births per year in recent data. Compared to the county total, Lincoln Hospital's 130 annual deliveries represent nearly half the county, not less than one third.
There is a way MaineHealth's 32% figure can be true, but it does not support MaineHealth's closure case.
If MaineHealth meant that only 32% of Lincoln County resident mothers delivered at Lincoln, then the numerator isn't total deliveries — it's limited to the Lincoln County residents who delivered there. That reading necessarily omits the non-Lincoln County mothers who also delivered at Lincoln Hospital.
The omitted number is approximately 46 births per year.
That is not a footnote. That is evidence that Lincoln's birth center serves a broader regional maternity function. Those 46 deliveries require staff, support clinical experience, generate volume, and show regional demand — and they cut directly against the public message that this is an expendable low-use local service.
If MaineHealth's 32% number is wrong, it is wrong. If it is right, MaineHealth withheld the fact that makes it meaningful: roughly 46 women per year travel from outside Lincoln County to give birth at Miles.
MaineHealth first told the public Lincoln Hospital averaged "roughly 120" births per year, a number that only obtains by highlighting the 2022 dip. MaineHealth later corrected itself and used 130 births per year in its own forum materials.
MaineHealth then told the public Lincoln Hospital delivered only 32% of Lincoln County expectant mothers. If that number is true, it necessarily omits roughly 46 annual deliveries by mothers from outside Lincoln County — a strongly favorable fact showing Lincoln Hospital functions as a regional maternity resource.
Both numbers served the same closure narrative. Both made the unit look more expendable than the full data show. This is not a birthing center in decline.
MaineHealth has not publicly released the data needed to verify its 32% claim. To evaluate it, the public needs:
Lincoln County expectant mothers by delivery hospital Shows whether the 32% county-share claim is accurate.
Lincoln Hospital deliveries by mother's county of residence Shows how many Lincoln deliveries are regional, out-of-county.
Raw counts behind the 32%, 18%, and 50% figures Percentages without denominators conceal the scale.
Definition of "required delivery at Maine Medical Center" Distinguishes medical necessity from patient preference.
Until MaineHealth releases that data, the 32% claim is not a transparent public fact. It is an unsupported advocacy number.
Patty Wight, "Lincoln Hospital in Damariscotta is 'evaluating' birthing services," Maine Public, May 15, 2026 — ~120 births/yr (Martins).
mainepublic.org/health/2026-05-15/…Emily Bracher, "Community Members Share Testimony About Lincoln Hospital Labor and Delivery Unit," Lincoln County News, June 2, 2026 — 32% county share (Wade).
lcnme.com/currentnews/community-members-share-testimony…Emily Bracher, "Community Protests Possible Miles Labor and Delivery Closure," Lincoln County News, June 1, 2026 — 130 births/yr (Wade fact sheet).
lcnme.com/currentnews/community-protests…Patty Wight, "Community urges Lincoln Hospital to find solutions…," Maine Public, June 2, 2026 — volume grown from ~100 to ~130 (Wade).
mainepublic.org/health/2026-06-02/…Cindy Wade, Lincoln Hospital President, Night 1 public forum, Boothbay Harbor, June 1, 2026 — "two primary reasons: physician recruitment and low birth volume"; "averaged 130 births each year for the last three years." LCTV recording; transcript on file with Miles Delivers Action Coalition.
Maine DHHS, resident live births by mother's county, 2016–2025.
maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/data-reports/…Dora Anne Mills, "Maine's Rural Maternity Crisis: A Policy Agenda," Maine Policy Review 34.2 (2025): 59–73 — Table 2, live births by facility; MH Lincoln row: 92 (2019), 111 (2020), 111 (2021), 101 (2022), 132 (2023), 132 (2024). Data: Maine CDC, Office of Data, Research, and Vital Statistics; comm. Terry Bryant, May 2025.
digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol34/iss2/7/