– After it became known that the ABC clinic was to be closed, we have actually received a couple of inquiries from women who wonder if it is possible to give birth naturally with us. This is what Marit Halonen Christiansen, head of the women’s clinic at Stavanger University Hospital, tells us. On Tuesday came the news that the ABC clinic in Oslo is closing down. At Stavanger University Hospital there is an offer that can be reminiscent of ABC, namely the maternity loft. Now several people fear that offers such as the maternity loft will also have to be closed. Marit Halonen Christiansen together with a boy who was born in the maternity loft on 24 January. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Fears of cuts at several maternity wards In his hospital speech earlier in January, Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) asked hospitals to look at what they can do less of. Now, among others, midwife and union representative for the Norwegian Midwives Association, Maren Samnøen, fears more cuts in maternity care. Maren Samnøen, midwife and union representative for the Norwegian Midwives Association. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news – One is afraid that it will be cut here. At the same time, we work very hard for the birth ceiling and want to keep it. But you never know what will happen when it comes to saving. Lena Henriksen is leader of the Norwegian Midwives Association. She points out that Kjerkol has announced that the health institutions are in a difficult situation. – We are concerned about further cuts. We see that it is apparently easy to cut maternity care. We don’t like that, she says. Maren Samnøen shows how many people have been born in the maternity loft so far this year. She hopes to be able to continue to offer a separate department for natural births. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news In Trondheim and Bergen there are also similar offers to the maternity loft in Stavanger. The clinic manager at the women’s clinic at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim, Tone Shetelig Løvvik, writes in an e-mail to news that they have no plans to close the delivery room permanently. Nevertheless, due to staffing challenges, they will have to close for periods. – This is the only unit we can close without jeopardizing patient safety. The employees are naturally anxious about closure and concerned that the offer should be maintained. The reason why it should be easy to cut maternity services such as the maternity ceiling is rooted in the funding model used in maternity care. Earning from difficult births Today, maternity wards receive money based on how many births they have. Births that are more complicated bring more money than a birth without intervention. This means that the hospital earns less from a “normal birth” than a birth that involves a caesarean section. – It is very stupid. I think we should get a bonus for every normal birth we have. That is what is best for mother and child, and best for society in the long term, says midwife Samnøen. She says that the current funding scheme for maternity care can be compared to retail or manufacturing operations. – There is no money to be made from health, it is a loss-making project anyway. One should look very carefully at how maternity care is financed. Offers like this are at risk because the hospitals have to save money. Kjerkol has asked the health organizations to look carefully at the financing of Norwegian maternity care. Olaug Bollestad (KrF). Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB scanpix In Politisk kvarter on Wednesday, KrF leader Olaug Bollestad said that the funding scheme is a downgrading of what is best for women. – This tells me that the priorities will be based on what makes money for the health institutions, and not on what the patient needs most. Delivery room in the delivery loft at Stavanger University Hospital. Out the window is a view of Stavanger from the 7th floor. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news This is how much the hospitals get paid for a birth Somatic services, i.e. medicine that treats physical challenges, will be financed with approximately 50% basic funding and 50% Input-based funding (ISF) in 2022. The hospitals code each treatment that is carried out, and is reimbursed the amount per treatment. This is done through the DRG system. DRG, diagnosis-related groups, is a system that classifies patients into groups that are medically and resource-wise similar. The system has been used to correct for differences in patient composition when comparing cost levels between somatic hospitals in Norway. (source Store medical encyclopedia) The figures below are from the Dips grouper. And is divided into births and caesarean sections with and without complicating secondary diagnoses (bk). 50% DRG – refund in kroner amount.Normal birth without birth: 13702,-Normal birth with birth: 20982,-Caesarean birth without birth: 32584,-Caesarean birth with birth: 45283,- Think they are lucky with a new hospital Head of Department for the women’s clinic at Stavanger University Hospital, Marit Halonen Christiansen, says she is quite certain that the birth ceiling will remain. – A lot of people give birth up here. If we see that there is a need for higher medical monitoring, the woman in labor is sent to the maternity ward. According to the plan, Stavanger will get a new hospital which will be put into use in 2024. – It’s a shame to say, but we may have been a bit lucky that the mold has solidified on the delivery rooms at the new hospital. In that way, they are physically separated from each other, and there will not be enough capacity in the maternity ward if the normal delivery unit were to be closed. Although many are anxious, the head of the women’s clinic at SUS believes that there is no danger of closure. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news
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Fødeloftet and other delivery departments for natural birth fear the same fate as the ABC clinic – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
