at the maternity hospital in Reims, midwives on strike

The evening of December 24 was agitated in the maternity department at the hospital in Reims (Marne). Christmas party or not, caregivers continue to work. That evening, they are seven health professionals to run a well-filled service where childbirths keep coming. But if midwives ensure the continuity of care, December 24 marks the beginning of a dark week of mobilization.

The caregivers denounce a lack of personnel, reduction of resources and low remuneration. “Our strikes denounce this frantic pace that we consider abnormal in the sense that, by running too much, we realize that we take much less time for our patients”, explains Laure, midwife. Going on strike while providing care during this symbolic period of the end-of-year celebrations is the challenge they take up.