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The shortage of caregivers has worsened since the VSvid-19. The situation is critical in some establishments, such as in Nièvre where the Nevers hospital can no longer accommodate women pregnant, because there are no more midwives.
Patients waiting for hours on stretchers, others turned away from emergencies… Caregivers resign or are absent: it’s the new outbreak of fever at the public hospital. In Nevers (Nievre)in the last maternity hospital in the department, 1,200 babies are born each year. But since Monday, April 11, no more childbirth is possible, because the 14 midwives are on sick leave. “When you’re alone, you can’t manage 3.4, 5, 6, 8 patients at the same time, it’s impossible”claims Lucie Gaudezmidwife.
For the future mothers of Nevers, it is uncertainty. “The nearest maternity ward is still 1 hour away, and further away, Dijon is 3 hours from here so it’s still complicated”deplores Amélie Lechon, who is due to give birth soon. In Orleans (Loiret)the hospital now only accepts vital emergencies. The emergency doctors are on strike and the eight nurses are on sick leave. The beginning of the crisis dates back to last summer. “We are simply an example (…) our situation is quite close to what unfortunately many other centers are going through. The public hospital is in large crisis”, alarms Dr. Matthieu Lacroix, emergency physician.