– I had to go a few rounds before I found out I wanted to do it again, says Louise Balch-Barth. news met her approx. ten days before the term with child number two. A child she was actually going to have at the ABC clinic at Ullevål hospital. That was not the case. The clinic is closed for births until 21 August, and all 130 who were to give birth have moved to the regular maternity ward. Midwives who usually do research, ultrasound or in the administration are deployed to receive children. And the gynecological reception is closed in the evenings and on weekends. Louise Balch-Barth is a second-time mother. About two months before the birth, she was told that the birth would be moved. Photo: Jenny Dahl Bakken After two years of pandemic, exhausted employees have to work double shifts to get away. – When people sit after work and cry because they are tired … it’s not how it should be, says Anne Helle. She is the main shop steward at the Women’s Clinic at Oslo University Hospital (OUS). And one of eight shop stewards who just before the summer sounded the alarm about the food supply this summer in a message of concern to the management. During the spring, several have announced: Concerns of concern During the first months of the year, shop stewards in central Eastern Norway have sent several reports of concern about the food and maternity services at the hospitals. and AHUS, as low staffing and very short hospital stays threaten proper maternity care at the hospitals, “write representatives of all Oslo’s 96 district midwives in a letter to the State Administrator and the hospitals OUS and Ahus. In the letter they write that in recent years they have experienced a increase in negative feedback and stories told by families ». This is especially true of lack of follow-up in childbirth. According to the letter, the hospital itself has admitted that the staffing is so low that at times there can only be two employees at work to follow up 38 families. Lack of follow-up means that more women are not informed about, for example, how much they bled or were sewn during childbirth, according to the letter. And that more people end up giving birth at home or on the way to the hospital because it takes so long before they get into the maternity ward.27. April, the union representatives in both the nurses ‘union and the midwives’ association at Vestre Viken send a report of concern about the summer staffing to the State Administrator. It appears that they have notified the management a number of times in the past year that the staffing situation goes beyond both employees and mothers. The situation is so precarious with regard to the summer that they feel compelled to warn, they write. At the end of May / beginning of June, shop stewards at OUS send a report of concern that the summer staffing appears to be critically low. “There will be periods when we provide treatment at the lowest level in what can be described as sound operation,” they write. Among other things, they fear that because they do not get to follow up on everyone well enough, more women may end up having to have a caesarean section or stronger painkillers. A consequence can also be psychological strain during childbirth, and in any new pregnancy and birth, they warn. Show more 16-hour shifts According to Helle, women giving birth this summer can be met by midwives who are in their seventeenth hour at work. – And then you might meet her again after eight hours. That is what she got from rest, because she must make sure that there are enough people there, she says. But the mothers will get a safe offer, even with low staffing, says both she and the hospital itself. At the same time, the longer the shifts increase, the greater the risk of making mistakes. Louise had that in mind when news met her. – It is not right that they should be “pushed” like that. But it is not fun for someone who is about to give birth to come in and realize that they are so stressed and in a pressured situation. One thing Louise Balch-Barth is sure of: this second child will be the last. Photo: Jenny Dahl Bakken / news Louise gave birth a few days after the interview. She brags about the employees in the maternity ward, but says it was noticeable that they were few people: – When I came in, the guard was sitting in the maternity ward on the phone to try to get more staff. Can cause mental strain Maternity wards on flares throughout the summer are not new. But this year it’s worse than before. Miriam Nyberg, head of the maternity ward at OUS, acknowledges this. – This year we are affected by a national shortage of midwives, says Nyberg. Despite the situation, everything is going according to plan so far, according to the hospital. But before the summer, the shop stewards warned that the plan involves such low staffing that it goes beyond the women giving birth. “We know that not being seen and heard leads to complaints from the women. It can lead to mental strain during childbirth and into a possible new pregnancy and birth, “they write. Closed maternity wards this summer It is almost normal operation in most maternity wards. But there are some exceptions: The maternity wards at Helgeland Hospital – Mo i Rana, Sandnessjøen, Brønnøysund – will be alternately closed throughout the summer, which may provide a longer journey. The maternity ward in Narvik is closed from 27 June to 18 July. Thereafter, the maternity ward in Harstad is closed from 18 July to 31 July. And more mothers are being moved from one hospital to another. For example, several births at Bærum Hospital are moved to Ringerike, and from Drammen to Kongsberg. As has been the case for several summers in a row, the maternity ward in Gjøvik is closed all summer. The mother must then go to Lillehammer. In Oslo, the ABC clinic is closed throughout the summer, mothers are moved to Ullevål. – No time for care This is how it turned out for Louise. The first birth went so fast that she was still in shock when it was over. But there was little understanding for that. At the maternity hotel, she experienced that employees barely had time to stick their heads in. – I do not think it is bad will, but they do not have the time or capacity to exercise care. The experience lasted a long time. And gave anxiety and uncertainty for the second birth. That’s why she wanted to give birth on ABC. Fortunately, things went better now. But it is also about that they were better prepared, and could make clear demands, Louise thinks. – Now we knew what we were going for. Staffing crisis – I think we here in Norway must find solutions to cover the summer with our own temps, says leader Kari Aarø in the Norwegian Midwifery Association. Their figures show that around 2,500 midwifery guards will not be filled at Norwegian hospitals this summer. More than last year, when the pandemic and high sickness absence were pointed out as causes. Leader Kari Aarø of the Norwegian Midwives’ Association says the staffing crisis among midwives is a warning crisis. Photo: Synne Sørenes Because even though the pandemic is over, many of the foreign substitutes who have had the summer go by are absent. And across the country, hospitals are struggling with recruiting midwives. The summer will hardly make it easier, Aarø thinks. For the newly graduated midwives, it will be the first meeting with the job. – Unfortunately, we see that they are thrown out in demanding situations, because there are few people at work. Which makes them dread a further career as a midwife, she says. Will not create fear At the same time, several shop stewards news talks to are concerned about not painting black and creating fear in mothers. Employees will thus not comment on how critical the situation really is, the organization Barselopprøret claims. – We believe that such attitudes help to maintain the problems because the seriousness of the situation is not visible to the public, they write in an e-mail to news. Leader Aïda Leistad Thomassen in the Maternity Uprising believes that politicians and health trusts have not taken action to secure staffing. Photo: Aïda Leistad Thomassen Can affect birth rates The organization was started last year in protest against what they believe is poor maternity care. Negative birth experiences can be an undercommunicated reason why women have fewer children, both the organization and Louise Balch-Barth believe. It has not been completely taken out of the blue, Aarø believes in the midwives’ association. – We have received feedback that some people think it was so demanding in childbirth that they have chosen not to have more children, she says. But Aarø emphasizes that there are many reasons for the development, including finances, that women become mothers later and that many find it difficult to combine with career ambitions.
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– Can be met by midwives who have been at work for 16 hours – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
