Ante and postnatal clinics will remain operational in Newry, though alternative arrangements are being organised for expectant mothers currently attending Daisy Hill Hospital from November.
The Southern Trust has confirmed it cannot recruit sufficient numbers of consultant obstetricians to staff the facility, prompting plans to temporarily transfer inpatient maternity services to Craigavon Area Hospital.
Residents familiar with the hospital's recent history may recognise this situation as similar to events at Causeway Hospital, where maternity services were permanently suspended in July 2023 before being consolidated at Antrim Area Hospital.
That earlier decision was reached after the Department of Health removed emergency general surgery from Daisy Hill in January 2024.
Analysts suggest the potential closure or relocation could intensify political tensions and community concern across Northern Ireland.
While the health minister has stated that any service loss is not final, there remains significant uncertainty regarding where additional resources might originate.
Workforce retention remains a primary responsibility of the Department of Health, with the Southern Trust having attempted to retain staff for several months without success.
The scale of the challenge is illustrated by birth figures recorded over the past year, which totalled 4,481 across the trust's two maternity services.