Arvi Vask, the hospital's director, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "Keeping the ward running is relatively expensive as personnel costs are high. Our budget ahs 70 percent going toward staff expenses, and we need staff available 24 hours a day. We've carried out the calculations, and the maternity ward alone is losing us about €300,000 because the Health Insurance Fund (Haigekassa) finances services on a per-case basis."

"One birth in Estonia costs about €2,000, so if we have 100 fewer births, that's minus €200,000 more" Vask said.

A baby birth chart on the maternity ward's wall reveals that there are some months where days or even weeks go by without any births.

Midwife Ene Kons said: "When I first started working here, there were 12 to 13 births per day. Now, days go by when none occur, though on other days, there may be two or three."

The hospital's maternity ward underwent renovations four years ago which cost nearly a million euros, and the closure of maternity wards in two other South Estonian towns, Valga and Põlva, led to the number of births taking place Võru exceeding 500.

While last year there were more than 300 births, the figure is expected to drop further still this year.

On the other hand, Võru's atmosphere sometimes tempts birth-givers-to-be to travel there from further afield.

In one case, a family from near Tartu arrived at the hospital Monday.

They told "Aktuaalne kaamera" that they chose to come to Võru as it is quieter, so medical staff have more time to dedicate to them.

The maternity ward in Võru will remain open.

Vask said: "For now, we are managing. We have no plans to shut it down because we are covering the losses with revenue from other services and activities," adding that longer term, this is not a sustainable state of affairs, though the picture is the same for all general hospitals in Estonia.

The last birth at the Lõuna-Eesti Hospital, at the time the report was filed, was on September 5.

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