Allegheny County has the second oldest population in the United States, after Dade; hospitals are closing their obstetrics units.

In 1945, I spent three months in the obstetrics unit on night duty.

Two weeks ago, a Harlem Hospital doctor was suspended after refusing admission to a woman in labor, citing an overcrowded obstetrics unit.

There are also aged care rehabilitation, intensive care, chemotherapy, and obstetrics units.

Last year, the money raised allowed us to buy ultrasound equipment for the obstetrics unit and an anesthesia machine, as well.

Hospital officials estimated that a 20-bed inpatient obstetrics unit at the refurbished St. Luke's hospital would cost $7.6 million.

Ms. Ramos was transferred from St. Francis, which is primarily a cardiac-care hospital, to North Shore, which has a strong obstetrics unit.

Many obstetrics units have struggled financially because of growing competition and reduced payments from the federal government and private insurers.

That was true of the obstetrics unit that closed on Friday at Mercy Hospital in West Philadelphia.

The opposition also reflects uneasiness with St. Luke's after it announced plans to move its in-patient obstetrics unit to Roosevelt Hospital eight years ago.