“We must bring together 100 maternities in France in the name of the safety of the mother and the child. If we do not do this, we are heading for disaster”.
The report only presented to the Academy of Medicine has not yet been voted on but its release in the press had the effect, this Wednesday, of a small bomb.
Throughout the 28 pages that make up this report – titled “Planning a perinatal policy in France”Professor Yves Ville, head of the Necker maternity hospital in Paris, multiplies the points to explain why ‘”organizing the continuity of care is a necessity and an emergency”.
The report drawn up by him as well as regarding fifteen other specialists is alarming. In particular, it would no longer be possible to give birth in type 1 maternities, those which take care of pregnancies without risk, and give birth to less than 1,000 babies each year. “Their maintenance is illusory. Eventually, they will end up closing”explains the professor in the columns of Le Parisien, while maternity closures have marked several municipalities in the country in recent months.
Type 1 maternities in the viewfinder
According to them, “we lose experience, which is dangerous”. In addition, he underlines the lack of stability in the workforce. “To overcome staffing difficulties, hospitals favor the use of temporary workers”. An organization, “in the form of temporary patches”which does not ensure sufficient safety and quality of care.
In France, 111 small maternities, out of the current 374, would be affected and targeted by a retraining. “The follow-up before and following pregnancy would still be provided there, but the women would no longer give birth there”, recommends Yves Ville. In the Var, the maternity wards of Brignoles, Gassin and Hyères would theoretically be part of this list. And Cagnes-sur-Mer in the Alpes-Maritimes.
“Saturated” type 2 maternities and others that need to be strengthened
Groupings that would be possible with type 2 and 3 maternity wards, whose territorial coverage is satisfactory. But they “are saturated and offer degraded working and reception conditions”giving the image “baby factories”.
The report also targets the case of these type 2 maternities, where less than 1,000 deliveries take place per year. In France, they are 54 in number and in the Alpes-Maritimes is concerned the maternity of Antibes. “They might be reinforced as a priority”.
“A terrible anguish for women to give birth away from home!”
But are such solutions viable, especially in the Alpes-Maritimes, where 70 municipalities are more than 45 minutes from a maternity hospital. With 30%
At the national level, this report, which is only a line of work, however, is reacting. “We are completely once morest”sweeps Michèle Leflon, president of the Coordination of defense committees for local hospitals and maternity wards. “It is a terrible anguish for women to give birth far from home!”.
