Tegan Philip's first son Archie was born at Epworth Hospital in Geelong a year ago, and she was expecting to give birth to Archie's sibling at Epworth in May next year.
But a sudden decision by Epworth Healthcare to close its maternity ward by March, means that can't happen.
"I was quite disappointed," Ms Philip said.
"There's going to be so many people who are caught out now, and I have no idea what they're going to do, or where the services are going to come from."
In a statement, the Epworth's chief executive Lachlan Henderson said a shortage of midwives in particular meant the hospital could not continue providing high-quality care.
"A high-quality service requires a minimum number of skilled and competent midwifery, nursing, allied health and specialist medical practitioners, across a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week period," he said.
Dr Henderson said the hospital had made "extensive, repeated efforts" to recruit more staff.
Maternity ward closure earmarked by Christmas
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the closure was "a proposal and not a foregone conclusion".
"ANMF will meet with members this week to discuss the proposal and provide support during this incredibly anxious time. We will ensure all avenues of recruitment and retention are exhausted," she said.
However, the ABC understands the Epworth intends to close the unit, possibly by Christmas.
In a letter to patients, Geelong Maternity Group doctors, which operates out of the Epworth, said they were distressed by the news and that appeals to the hospital to honour commitments to patients already booked in had failed.
The letter said the group had been "consistently reassured that Epworth would do everything possible to sustain its maternity service".
The alternatives for patients are Barwon Health's public University Hospital, and the private St John of God Hospital.
In a statement, a Barwon Health spokesperson said it's working with the Epworth to transition maternity services and is confident there is enough capacity at both hospitals.
Obstetrician Kara Thompson works at OGB Surfcoast at the Epworth and said she hoped her team would be able to move to St John of God permanently.
"It was really hard. People are very invested in their place of birth and their providers they're going to birth with, so there was a lot of understandable distress," she said.
Epworth's closure comes after Portland hospital paused its maternity services due to a lack of midwives in March.
Dr Thompson said it's likely Geelong won't be the last place to see closures.
"I worry that we might see similar circumstances in other hospitals around the state until that problem [of staff shortages] is addressed," she said.
Local health services come under strain with ballooning birth rates
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the Epworth was a private hospital in charge of its own recruitment.
"We are doing everything that a government can do to bring on and encourage more people to train to be nurses and midwives," Ms Thomas said.
But there are fears the growing Geelong region won't be able to cope with just two maternity units.
For the past two years, birth rates in the Geelong region have been climbing well ahead of the state average.
Last year, the Geelong local government area had the fifth-highest birth rate in Victoria, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the highest birth rate outside metropolitan Melbourne.
"The demand is really strong there are so many people so many families moving down from Melbourne. We find every week we're getting phone calls from new families," Dr Thompson said.
Petition launched to keep hospital open
Elise Davey is a GP in Geelong who gave birth to her second son at the Epworth five months ago.
She began a petition to get the hospital to remain open on Tuesday.
Dr Davey said it's a "daunting" experience to be told halfway through your pregnancy that your care team would have to change.
"They're not even guaranteeing the mums in that system will be able to deliver there," she said.
"We need a solution to actually keep the Epworth services in Geelong open.
"The biggest risk of closing the service is that we will lose them forever, we will lose these amazing obstetricians and we will lose these brilliant midwives and they will be swept up somewhere else and we will never get that facility reopened again."
The petition was picked up and promoted by former Geelong Cats captain Joel Selwood.
The Epworth said it was contacting all patients affected by the closure.
