– Full speed, full speed! Victoria Marie (1) stretches her arms towards her cheering mum as she pushes herself forward. The one-year-old just needs a little support from an adult in the nursery to stay on his feet. – I’ll see you tomorrow, says Ramona Arild (30) to the woman who has taken care of her daughter today, while she herself has been at work as a nurse at the Sonjatun housing and culture centre. Victoria smiles and babbles, while mum dresses her in the woolen suit. Everything is fine now, but it was not a foregone conclusion when Victoria came into the world almost two months before her due date. Nevertheless, she is two days too little premature for the parents to be entitled to a longer time home with her. Lived in uncertainty After a tough pregnancy, several weeks of high blood pressure and suspicion of pre-eclampsia, Ramona was sent by ambulance from her home Storslett in Nord-Troms to Tromsø. She was 30 weeks pregnant, and was admitted to the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN). – We had no idea when she would come. We just knew she would come early, says Ramona. The next few weeks were scary for the parents-to-be, who did not know how things would go with the little girl. Would she come in an hour? Tomorrow? Or would they manage to recover until week 32 of the pregnancy? – We ended up having a celebration for each week that passed. Because the longer she stayed in there, the better it was. On 19 August 2022, two days into the 33rd week of pregnancy, Victoria Marie was born via caesarean section. The little girl weighed only 1700 grams. – I only got to see her for a few minutes that day. I was in the recovery room and was quite unwell, while she was in the neonatal intensive care unit. Didn’t know about leave rules After two weeks, Ramona and her daughter got They continued to receive health care from UNN, via the “Early home” offer, which allows parents of premature children to be discharged earlier and receive help and follow-up via video. But Ramona’s parental leave began to run. Parents of premature children born before week 33 of pregnancy receive parental leave for the same length of time as if the child had been born on the due date. But if the child is born moderately premature, i.e. between weeks 33 and 37, parental leave starts on the day the child is born. The parents can apply for care allowance from Nav. While the child is admitted to hospital, they will normally meet the requirements for this. Ramona had no idea that the premature birth would have consequences for her parental leave. It was only when she got home, with scales, syringes and a tiny baby who had to be fed via tube, that she discovered that the leave plan had changed. – I called Nav to explain the situation, and then I remember that the woman I spoke to said: “Oi, you were unlucky”. Victoria Marie was born almost eight weeks early. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news If Victoria had arrived at week 33+0, the parents would have been given leave for the same length of time as if she had been born at term. – But she was born in week 33+2, so then we got nothing, says Ramona. The only consolation was that they received care money for the two weeks they were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, so that the start of leave was postponed a little. Wants the same arrangement for everyone Hege Nordhus, head of the Premature Association, is not satisfied with this arrangement. – We believe that all those who are described as prematurely born should fall under the same scheme, regardless of whether they were born at week 25 or 35, she says. Nordhus believes that children born between weeks 33 and 37 fall between two chairs with the current system. Hege Nordhus of the premature premature infants association believes that the current arrangement is too bad. Photo: Ann-Kristin Mo / news – It gives these families an unpredictability that they do not need in the tough times they are in, she says. Today’s leave rules for premature babies were adopted in 2019. Before that, everyone who had a premature baby had to apply for care allowance in order to have the start of leave postponed. Nordhus is happy that parents of the most premature children are now exempt from this, but wish it applied to everyone. – These children are born immature, and it is more difficult for them to mature outside their mother’s womb, says Nordhus. – I fully understand that the Prematurity Association addresses the fact that parents of premature children born after week 33 need more at home, but I believe that these children are also well looked after from birth through parental allowance and care allowance, says Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp). Twelve weeks of breastfeeding practice At home in Storslett, the first twelve weeks of Ramona’s life as a mother were characterized by close monitoring by the healthcare system. Everything was about breastfeeding, because Victoria was small and weak. Ramona and her partner’s mission was to make the baby grow bigger and stronger. – We were still in a vulnerable situation. I had just given birth, and hardly understood what we were getting into, she says. – There are a few weeks where I don’t really remember much, because it is so intense. Last year, between 60 and 70 children were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit in Tromsø because they were born before week 36 of pregnancy. – Children born prematurely often have a bit more challenges in regulating themselves, says senior physician at the neonatal intensive care unit at UNN Nils Thomas Songstad to news. Songstad points out that it is important to remember that premature children are actually born too early. – You have to assess the development based on when they should actually have been born, not when they have actually been born, he says. Senior physician at the neonatal intensive care unit at UNN Nils Thomas Songstad says that even moderately premature children can have challenges. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news Every year approximately 3,500 premature babies are born in Norway. The moderately premature are the largest group of these. The superintendent believes that the moderately premature children may be a little overlooked, because after all we expect them to be fine. He says that it can be more difficult to be the parent of a premature child. – It can be experienced as more tiring, and therefore it is more important that these parents get a little extra support when it is needed. Victoria and mum Ramona spent twelve weeks breastfeeding. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news Took leave measures After three months, Ramona and Victoria were able to breastfeed. And the news from the hospital was good: Victoria had developed well, and everything seemed to be going well. – Only then did I think we had overcome the problem. Then we had a normal baby. Now they could finally start enjoying life together. At the same time, the maternity leave quota began to draw to a close. After her part of the leave, Ramona started working part-time, so that the leave period would last longer. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news Ramona and her partner agreed that mother should take the entire joint period of leave. Then Ramona had to start full time work again in March, with a baby who was only five months old corrected for prematurity. Neither mother nor daughter was ready for that. – I also didn’t want to take unpaid leave, so therefore I started working fifty percent after the mother’s quota. That way we could extend the leave period, says Ramona. Even though Victoria was small when Ramona started working, it was good for the 30-year-old to get a little back into everyday life again. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news The puzzle was solved because of an understanding employer who was willing to make arrangements. In August, one year after her birth, Victoria started kindergarten. Because mum Ramona still had fifty percent leave, her daughter could have shorter and fewer days at the nursery. – It feels much better for the mother’s heart that we could do it that way, rather than her having to start full time in the nursery from the start. Victoria is now doing well, despite being born almost eight weeks before her due date. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news Now things are going beyond all expectations with the little girl. – Do you notice in her now that she is premature? – She has always been a bit small compared to the others, but she has started to make up for that lately. She has had a huge boost since she started kindergarten, and is developing like all other one-year-olds.
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Premature birth leads to loss of leave time for parents – news Troms and Finnmark
