Ingrid is 33 weeks pregnant. But the active baby has stopped kicking. Now she steps on the accelerator to reach the ferry over to the mainland. But the nearest hospital, 25 minutes away, cannot accept her. Because in this part of Nordland, the nursery is closed for the summer. On the ferry, she drinks iced coffee and sugary soda. But there will be no kick in the stomach. She holds back her tears. It was Dagsavisen that first mentioned the story. Drove alone with little brother in her belly It is the afternoon of July 29 at home in the island municipality of Dønna, when she feels that something is wrong. She has been allowed to borrow a Doppler. It is a device that she can use to hear the heartbeat of the baby in her womb. Now she hears nothing. Then she calls the hospital in Sandnessjøen. – I called and explained the situation. That I no longer felt kicks. But the delivery room at Sandnessjøen is closed. Ingrid says that she is told that the doctor had gone home and could not return. She is transferred to the hospital in Mo i Rana, and is told to come there. She has to drive there alone. Her husband Andreas is still at work on the ferry. Ingrid says that she panicked. She stands in the bathroom and cries. – It is now that I realize that something may be wrong. I didn’t know where to turn. She throws herself into the car, because the next ferry leaves in 25 minutes. Ingrid Leiråmo had to drive several hours with her dead baby in her stomach. Now she is chastising the plans to close the maternity ward in Sandnessjøen for four months in the summer. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news The heavy message She arrives at Mo i Rana around five o’clock. Then three and a half hours have passed since she called in her message of concern. Here she says that several midwives tried to find the heartbeat. – Then the doctor came in and took an ultrasound. Then we could all see that the baby was no longer alive. Then Ingrid’s partner, Andreas Nilsen Falk, was called. He arrived at the delivery room at 9pm. Then he found Ingrid alone, crying in a dark room. She says that she was then told to drive to Bodø to initiate the stillbirth. A trip of over three hours, over Saltfjellet. Ingrid had been given a maturing tablet to start labour. Nevertheless, there was no question of an ambulance to Bodø, from what she can remember. – There was never any talk of transport. We asked where we could put the other car, to avoid it being towed away. In case it took a few days before we got back. Then we were allowed to put it in the employee car park. They arrive in Bodø at half past two in the morning. By then 12 hours had passed since the first phone call was taken. Grief, shock and anxiety After the birth and the painful experience, anxiety has taken a large place in the couple from Dønna. – I don’t understand how it can be justifiable to send two people who have just learned that their baby has died, alone in a car for so many hours. We were heartbroken and devastated. I don’t see how that can be okay. – There have been difficult days, but we find a lot of comfort in each other. we agree to try again. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news Ingrid is still on sick leave, and it wasn’t until recently that she was able to drive alone again. All attempts before that had ended in anxiety attacks. She says it’s because she was so alone the day Little Brother died. Now she is afraid that others will experience the same, or worse than she experienced. – We know that nothing could have saved Little Brother. But so much could have been done differently and better. If we had received the help I believe we were entitled to, we would not be so devastated to this day. – It is no one’s fault that Little Brother died, says Ingrid. Photo: Sondre skjelvik / news In the board meeting at Helgeland’s hospital on 26 October, it was proposed to extend the summer-closed maternity wards from eight to sixteen weeks in 2023. Part of the basis is that there has not been an “increased frequency of unfortunate events with serious consequences”, and that Helgeland has “relatively few births with the consumption of personnel in the maternity wards”. In addition, it is pointed out that good transport conditions in the summer months. The measure will be able to provide a cost saving of NOK 3.2 million. Received a summons for growth control When Ingrid today thinks back on what happened, she feels anger. – We should have received help to get to Mo, and on to Bodø. You are not in your right mind when you receive such a message, which means that you should not be driving. It’s very scary. I am left with a feeling of panic that I could have killed someone. Ingrid and Andreas do not want to deal with Helgeland Hospital regarding births in the future. Ingrid Leiråmo is aware that her child’s life could not have been saved, but a long journey brings great risk, she says. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news The situation was not improved by the fact that they were subsequently called in to check the baby’s growth. The baby who was then cremated. When she now tells her story, it is because she hopes that no other families will experience what she and Andreas have done. – I hope they get the help they need, despite the departments being closed for the summer. Personnel must be present when an emergency situation arises. It can’t all be about finances. If we are to continue giving birth to children, we must know that we are looked after, she says. And adds: – If someone calls and says something is wrong, don’t send them off on their own. No one knew at the time if the baby was really dead. They took the chance. – A contempt for women who give birth – It really feels like we are failing those who give birth. That’s what Berit Mortensen says. She is an associate professor at Oslo Met, but she has previously been a midwife at the delivery room in Sandnessjøen. Berit Mortensen, associate professor at Oslo Met and author of the book author of the book “Barselbrølet”, says that midwives are concerned with coherence in their care so that they know those who will help them towards the birth. Photo: OsloMet She believes “a rash of closures of services for women giving birth” is pulling the strings too far. – I think there is contempt for the important work women do when they are pregnant and give birth. There is also contempt for all the rest of us who have been born, says Mortensen. – The fact that people have such an unpredictable supply creates a lot of anxiety and insecurity, and this often results in the birth going less well than it could have. This applies both to women who cannot give birth at the weekends at the ABC clinic, those who can no longer give birth at Voss in the summer, and the women in Sandnessjøen. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news – When the public maternity care becomes more and more depleted of personnel and is eventually closed, this is a controlled and deliberate political consequence, according to Mortensen. A measure of poor healthcare Hilde Marie Engjom has worked on a research project on how increased distance to maternity wards affects the risk for mother and child. – What we saw was that there was an increased risk of the child dying during, or shortly after, birth in unplanned births outside an institution. Hilde Marie Engjom, senior physician at FHI, has looked at access to maternity facilities from the 80s to the present day. Many were shut down even then. After that, there has been a reduction in the supply of 10 per cent every decade. Photo: news Hordaland / news Hordaland Women who had more than one hour to the maternity ward had an increased risk of giving birth before they arrived. In such births, health personnel do not have the same opportunity to monitor mother and child during the process. They have used this as a measure that access to the health service is too poor. The researcher believes that the proposals to close maternity wards in the summer or at weekends affect a group that is vulnerable in the first place. – If more birthing institutions close, the proportion of women who have poorer access to the health service will be even higher. It particularly affects those who already have a long journey to the nearest institution, and increases the chance of failures and delays occurring along the way. – We have to ask if this is how we want to look after pregnant women when the worst has happened and the child dies in the womb. On Thursday there was a demonstration in Sandnessjøen against the hospital considering closing the maternity ward for 16 weeks to save money. Photo: Private – Some get a longer journey Rose Rølvåg, acting clinic manager, surgical clinic does not want to comment on the experiences of Ingrid Leiråmo, and refers to the duty of confidentiality. On a general basis, she says the following: – Most people who live in Helgeland have a certain journey to the maternity ward. This is considered a safe offer. People in many parts of Helse Nord, in other regions, also in central Eastland, have similar travel distances, and longer. After Mosjøen was converted into a maternity ward in 2010, 43 per cent of women of childbearing age had more than an hour’s journey to the nearest hospital. Photo: Helgelandssykehuset HF – During alternating summer closures, some have a longer journey than at other times of the year. Medical assessments are used as a basis if there is a need to call for an ambulance. During the summer closure, several different compensatory measures are put in place to ensure that this is a safe offer. – We encourage those who experience that the service at Helgelandssykehuset is not of the expected quality to get in touch so that we can use these experiences for improvement. Helgelandssykehuset has a deviation system and other tools that enable us to use both what goes well and what does not go as desired to improve our services. Measures at Helgeland Hospital that create safety for those giving birth: Midwives on call 24/7 in the closed maternity ward. Good selection in pregnancy to identify pregnant women with extra risk. Where a risk is identified, the pregnant woman is given the opportunity to stay in a hotel/other accommodation near the place of birth ahead of the due date. Possibility of meeting in an ambulance with a midwife present if necessary. Good cooperation and joint training between maternity wards, pre-hospital clinic and emergency department to ensure that any unforeseen events are taken care of in the best possible way. And, perhaps most important of all; the security that we have permanent, familiar personnel present during the open summer period and throughout the rest of the year.
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Ingrid Leiråmo had to drive alone with a dead baby in her stomach – news Nordland
