Mercy Medical Center stopping maternity and newborn services in December is “challenging for the community,” officials with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health acknowledged Friday.

Trinity Health, the organization overseeing the Springfield-based Family Life Center, said the services are stopping Dec. 8 due to significant provider and staffing constraints, including nurses, who have “persisted over several months despite concerted efforts to recruit and retain FLC clinical colleagues.”

Certified nurse midwives will continue to provide prenatal and postnatal care in outpatient sites with physician collaboration throughout Western Massachusetts.