On Monday, Labor and Inclusion Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) put forward a proposal that retired nurses can work in positions below 20 per cent without it going beyond their pension payment. – What has been the problem is that they have been offered a pittance for the work they have done. They have not accepted that. This is according to the leader of the Midwives Association, Hanne Charlotte Schjelderup. – They have made it clear through their union that this is not good enough, and the government must change this if they are to be willing to work together with other midwives. They simply have to get a salary that makes it worth going to work, says Schjelderup. And now they may get just that. – We have two lives in our hands at every shift and every birth. The only thing missing would be that we have good enough working conditions, says Hanne Charlotte Schjelderup of the Midwives’ Association. Photo: Kristin Henriksen / Norwegian Nurses’ Association Want to get more retirees into work The Midwives’ Association (NSF) has long worked to put good incentives in place so that even the most experienced midwives will work when there are large gaps in the rotation. The reason is the precarious midwife shortage. news has previously written reports of concern about the speech, that midwives do not always manage to clean the room between births and women who dread giving birth. Now the government is proposing to exempt retired nurses born before 1965 from enrollment in the nursing pension scheme if they work in positions below 20 per cent. – Norway has a great need for nurses. I am happy that together with the parties we have come up with a solution that allows retired nurses to work up to 20 per cent without the pension being reduced, says Tonje Brenna in a press release. – There is a great need for the experience and workforce of retired nurses, says Brenna. Photo: William Jobling / news The Midwives’ Association is happy about this. – So we need all good measures to keep our midwives out in working life for as long as possible, and we are very happy that the government is now making arrangements for that, says Schjelderup. – They need us Margunn Omtvedt has worked as a midwife for 40 years. She is now retired, but takes shifts at Rikshospitalet. Omtvedt likes the proposal, which could lead to her being able to work more without losing pension money. – I really enjoy my job, and am happy to be able to take shifts when it suits me. That is the advantage once you have retired, that you can manage your daily life yourself. Margunn Omtvedt has worked as a midwife for 40 years. Photo: Privat But there are busy days as a midwife. According to Omtvedt, they are tasked with more and more tasks, without staffing increasing. And if we are to believe the leader of the Midwives’ Association, hard-working pensioners are helping to save the entire range of maternity services. – That says something about how the staffing situation is all around. That they need us, and that this can help to make more people think about taking shifts when you get to keep your salary and can work up to 20 per cent, says Omtvedt. The head of the Midwives’ Association has no doubt that the pensioners manage to stay up-to-date on developments within the profession. – There is no doubt about that. They have kept things going throughout their working life and the midwives work efficiently, are good at adapting and are quick in the field. They are some of the smartest, says Schjelderup. The government will now advance the bill during the autumn, so that the Storting can consider it before Christmas. Has warned for a long time The Midwives’ Association has long warned about the shortage of midwives and several have reacted to maternity wards being closed for the summer. In fact, they depend on retired midwives all year round, and several examples from the largest hospitals in the country where the shortage of midwives is greatest. – We have certain shifts where only retired midwives work. That says something about how much we need this workforce in the health service. Here you see four retired midwives in uniform, who covered an entire shift at Rikshospitalet earlier this year. Front from left: Eli Hole and Kari Hendis. Back from left: Karin Jansen and Jorid Beck Bardøl. Photo: Hanne Charlotte Schjelderup / Jordmorforbundet The research is clear, according to Schjelderup: The risk of complications is greater for mother and child when the travel time is over an hour to the place of birth. It increases the risk of giving birth before they arrive and increases the risk of the child dying during or shortly after birth. – We are not satisfied that maternity wards around the country will be closed for the summer, it has a lot to say for women who are pregnant and are due to give birth at that time. Leader of the Midwives Association Hanne Charlotte Schjelderup. Photo: Midwives Association Concerns for the summer Only in Nordland will the maternity wards in both Mo i Rana and Sandnessjøen be closed for four weeks each this summer. The same applies to the maternity ward in Brønnøysund. The reason is holiday closures and the fact that there must be permanent, familiar personnel in place on the maternity wards. – We midwives are always worried because we know that this is peak time for births and it is very nice that many children are born in summer, but we also know from experience that the guards are extra busy. It goes beyond maternity follow-up and women who give birth. Just before the new year, news told the story of Renate, who was sent home from UNN because the maternity ward did not have capacity. Two days later, her son died in the womb. The politicians expressed that the story made an impression and agreed: Too few midwives have been trained. It cannot be like this. – Approximately 150 midwives are to be trained annually, but in reality it is just over 100. We are not satisfied that it is so slow to solve a precarious midwifery crisis, because it affects the population, says Schjelderup. Published 18.06.2024, at 09.13 Updated 18.06.2024, at 14.57
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New proposal from the government to make maternity wards safer – news Nordland
