Subscribe!
TODAY – UPDATED! All-Community Rally to Save The Birthing Center at Newport Hospital
UPDATED:
Rally Speakers:
- Stephanie Smyth, City Councilor
- Cassie Voll, Moms Over Margins Co-Founder
- HEZ Resident
- K. Joseph Shekarchi, Rhode Island House Speaker
- Dr. Brooke Roebuck, Head of Pediatrics at Newport Hospital
- Harp Donnelly, Newport Fire Chief
- Latisha Michel, Doula
- Newport Resident
- Xay Khamsyvoravong, City Councilor
- Helena Foulkes
- Dr. Jennifer Enos, OBGYN
- Ellen Pinnock, City Councilor
- Dr. Martha Ullman, retired pediatrician
- Carol Bazarsky, Chair of the Newport Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees
- Katie Hellendrung, Local Middletown Resident
- HEZ Resident
- Rob Vitello
- Open Mic for Community
___
Concerned residents of Aquidneck Island will gather for a Community Rally to save the Noreen Stonor Drexel Birthing Center at Newport Hospital on Tuesday, July 29 at 6 pm – SEE ABOVE – in Newport to show united support for keeping the Island’s only labor and delivery unit open.
The rally comes in response to news that Brown University Health is considering shutting down the Birthing Center—putting local maternity care at risk for hundreds of families across the region. Nearly 500 babies were born at the center last year, and over 300 have been born there already in 2025.
The Newport City Council unanimously passed a resolution on July 15 urging Brown Health to keep the center open and calling on state leaders to take immediate action. The resolution states that: “… the closure of the Birthing Center would require expectant mothers to travel significantly farther to access delivery services, which could pose serious risks in emergencies and present undue hardship on families with limited transportation options.” In addition, “… such a closure would place added demand on the City of Newport’s Fire and Rescue Department, whose personnel and ambulances will be increasingly called upon to transport expectant mothers to off-island hospitals – potentially during time-sensitive and medically urgent situations – divert resources from other critical incidents, and increase response times for the broader community.”
On Friday, a group known as Moms Over Margins demonstrated outside Newport Hospital and walked to Newport City Hall on behalf of keeping The Birthing Center open – many had babies in strollers and homemade signs.
The upcoming rally aims to amplify this message.
WHAT: Community Rally to Save the Birthing Center
WHEN: Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at 6 pm
WHERE: Great Friends Meeting House, 21 Farewell Street, Newport
WHO: Local families, health advocates, doulas, elected officials, and community members
WHY: To demand continued access to maternity care at Newport Hospital
Bring signs, wear purple for maternal health, and join neighbors in raising your voice for mothers, babies, and community care.
For more information, contact Stephanie Smyth at [email protected] or 401-318-1132