HudsonValley360.com reports that last week Columbia Memorial Hospital officials held a ribbon-cutting for a new Women’s Specialty Care Services practice. That came just after the hospital announced that beginning October 1, pregnant women will no longer be able to give birth in Hudson. Childbirth services will now be moved to The Birth Place at Albany Medical Center. Pre-natal and post-natal care will continue to be offered at Columbia Memorial Health offices in Hudson and Catskill, but women will have to go to Albany for labor and delivery. The decision was made based on the declining number of births at the Hudson hospital, as well as a shortage of obstetricians, Dr. Clifford J. Belden, Columbia Memorial Health's chief medical officer said. Ten years ago, Columbia Memorial Health handled approximately 600 births each year; in the past year that number dropped to fewer than 300. The new center includes services for gynecology, uro-gynecology for incontinence issues, breast health and breast cancer care, and gynecological care for young women. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.