WARREN — Trumbull Regional Medical Center plans to close its maternity ward Dec. 31, the hospital announced, but expecting mothers won’t be left without high-quality care.

Local patients can still access maternity care at Sharon Regional Medical Center, a sister hospital to Trumbull Regional in the Steward Health Care group that’s fewer than 20 miles away from Warren.

Also, the Mahoning Valley through Mercy Health-Youngstown has Level 2 maternity care at St. Joseph Warren Hospital and Level 3 care at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital that combined deliver more babies than any other market in the Bon Secours Mercy Health seven-state footprint.

The decision to close Trumbull Regional’s maternity ward was made based on low demand, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“Despite our best efforts, patient demand has remained low, and Trumbull’s maternity ward remains significantly underutilized — a trend that began even prior to Steward taking ownership of the hospital. Trumbull’s maternity ward covers less than 15 percent of the babies delivered in the region annually,” stated hospital spokeswoman Alexa Polinsky in an emailed statement.

Steward will continue to provide services to women, including advanced robotic gynecological procedures, with plans to expand its service offerings for women.

“We are extremely grateful to the talented and dedicated medical and professional staff in Trumbull’s maternity ward who care for patients every day — and we are here to support them during this transition,” Polinsky said in the email. “In addition, all affected nurses in the maternity ward have the opportunity to take open positions within the hospital.”

Anna Klejka, market director for the women and children’s service line for Mercy Health-Youngstown, said the system partners with Akron Children’s Hospital to provide maternity-related care in Warren and Boardman.

The Warren hospital has a special care nursery for services that include oxygen or IV therapy or greater supportive diagnostic intervention.

The neonatal intensive care unit at the Boardman hospital also has specialized services, including care for very premature newborns or newborns who may need a ventilator. The NICU also has subspecialists for more special needs-like surgery. The procedure would be done in Akron.

Maternity services at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital were relocated to Boardman in 2014.

St. Joseph delivers about 1,200 babies per year and St. Elizabeth Boardman, about 3,300 annually, Klejka said. That is No. 1 for deliveries in the Bon Secours Mercy Health system, which operates in Ohio, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Virginia in the U.S.

Mercy Health-Youngstown already has absorbed some of the care lost with the closures of five other local maternity wards in recent years.

“As with any kind of medical facility not providing services, it will have an impact on those that are providing,” Klejka said. “For us at St. Joe’s Health Center or St. Elizabeth Boardman, we will definitely continue our services as it relates to maternity care.”

rselak@tribtoday.com