2024-09-24 12:54:09
September 24, 2024
The Senate information mission on perinatal health paints a bleak picture of the French situation, with results well below those of the most competent European countries in this area, particularly the northern countries. High infant mortality, frequent complications during childbirth, postpartum depression… What solutions are there to improve perinatal health in France?
“France has been experiencing a marked decline for more than ten years compared to its European neighbors.” The Senate recently published in September a panel of recommendations concerning perinatal health – the health of the mother and child from pregnancy to the child’s first birthday – in France. Objective: to provide a response commensurate with the current fragility of perinatal health in France. A precarious situation that weighs on the health of mothers and newborns in France.
High infant mortality
The information mission on the future of perinatal health and its territorial organization is based on an alarming observation, which initiated its action : “the lack of improvement, or even the deterioration of the indicators over the last ten years, now places France in 21st and 22nd place in Europe in terms of spontaneous stillbirth and infant mortality, with a rate of 4.0 per 1,000 live births in 2023 for this second indicator.” After six months of pregnancy in France, one in a hundred babies is stillborn or dies during their first year of life.
55,000 children are born prematurely in France each year, or 7% of births, which represent 75% of neonatal mortality and 50% of perinatal disabilities. The care of these premature newborns has improved but not quickly enough, regrets the fact-finding mission, below the levels reached in northern European countries.
On the mothers’ side, while deaths remain rare (around 90 per year), physical or psychological complications remain frequent. Postpartum hemorrhages alone account for 10% of deliveries.
A healthcare system that is not up to par
Among the causes identified, we find risk factors specific to the mother and her social situation:
Later age of pregnancy; Obesity and gestational diabetes (15% of pregnant women); Poor health; Social insecurity and vulnerability.
But the causes are also to be found in the healthcare system:
Insufficient provision of neonatal resuscitation care (less systematic management of extremely premature babies); Lack of organization of care (difficulties in ensuring continuity of care and stable full teams); Suboptimal care (twice as high risk of inadequate management of postpartum hemorrhage).
Poor mental health
The report also highlights the deteriorating mental health of young parents. 70% of mothers show symptoms of the baby blues in the days following childbirth, 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers suffer from postpartum depression. Suicides, 15 per year, remain the leading cause of maternal death.
Among the causes, one in five women say they are not satisfied with the information provided on the postpartum period and have not benefited from postnatal follow-up. The report highlights in particular the lack of quality information, leaving parents helpless when it comes to caring for their newborn.
The fact-finding mission makes 16 recommendations, in particular to put an end to territorial disparities, guarantee the number of medical personnel, improve mental health care for young parents, etc. In summary, “It recommends a reorganization of the healthcare offering ensuring increased safety of deliveries and, at the same time, a strengthening of local monitoring during pregnancy and after birth.”summarizes the Senate website.
Source: Sénat.fr – Information mission on the future of perinatal health and its perinatal organization, September 2024
Written by: Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by Vincent Roche
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