The Fagnes Health Center located in Chimay has announced the suspension of its maternity services from April 11 to June 30 due to a high number of absentees among its midwifery staff. However, perinatal consultations will still be in place, and around thirty expectant mothers will have to give birth elsewhere. The Chimay hospital has been experiencing a shortage of nursing and midwifery professionals, with six full-time equivalents currently missing from the team to manage the maternity ward. The hospital has launched a recruitment campaign, including a public market to designate a recruitment company responsible for finding certified workers, especially those from foreign countries. The Charleroi hospital has also been approached; however, it is operating at full capacity as well. It is hoped that the temporary suspension will aid in securing a long-term solution for the understaffed department at the Chimay hospital.
The maternity of the Fagnes Health Center, in Chimay, suspends its activities from April 11 to June 30 due to excessive absenteeism among the midwifery staff, according to a press release from the hospital released Thursday. Perinatal consultations are maintained, but regarding thirty people who were to give birth on site will be directed elsewhere.
For example, it was just so that little Célestin might be born near his home. “I was really lucky to give birth here, with everything that was put in place for me. If I had to go to Charleroi (an hour’s drive) to the Marie-Curie hospital, that would have made me feel weird”, says Aline, a young mother. From Tuesday, the other option is to give life to Fourmies (in France).
In the Chimay maternity hospital, out of 12 midwives, five go on maternity leave. However, six full-time equivalents are missing from the team to run the service. Under these conditions, a suspension of activities was necessary in order to find a long-term solution, explains Frédéric Dubois, communication manager for the HUmami Santé Charleroi-Chimay network.
In question, a glaring shortage targeting the professions of nurse and midwife in Belgium and more widely in Europe. “The Chimay hospital is geographically isolated, which makes recruitment even more difficult”says Frédéric Dubois.
He pursues: “We must have a more global vision at the national level on the revaluation of the nursing profession in particular. We must be able to interest young people in these professions and to enroll in the sectors which for the moment are deserted, which makes it very difficult to recruit staff.”
The Fagnes Health Center first considered bringing in midwives from the Charleroi hospital, but the latter is also working just in time. The use of interim was another unsuccessful track.
A public market has also been launched to designate a recruitment company responsible for finding rare pearls. The mission will be spread over four years. The designated company will turn in particular to foreign countries with diploma equivalence. The Chimay hospital has already canvassed countries like Lebanon, with so far “very few returns”.
“Contacts have been made with the AViQ (Walloon Agency for Quality Life, editor’s note), the ARS of Hauts-de-France and French cross-border hospitals. The procedures with the Center Hospitalier de Fourmies and, in the event of high-risk pregnancy, the Charleroi University Hospital, are already established to accommodate in the best conditions” parturients, said the Chimay hospital in a press release.
The situation at the Fagnes Health Center in Chimay highlights the ongoing shortage of midwifery and nursing professionals in Belgium and beyond. Unfortunately, this shortage has led to the suspension of activities at the maternity ward, uprooting expecting mothers and causing disruption to their important and personal plans. The hospital is determined to find a long-term solution by recruiting from abroad and revaluing the nursing profession at a national level. It is our hope that this situation serves as a wake-up call for governments and healthcare organizations to invest in the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals.
