“There cannot be no maternity in Ganges!” The fight continues, in the north of Hérault, to save maternity
. If nothing is done, it could close on December 19. The problem remains the same: Cap Santé, the private group that manages the clinic, cannot find replacements for the gynecologists who work there… Out of four, at the end of the year, there will only be one left . The group is therefore considering a closure.
But that, there is no question, for the members of the collective for the maintenance of the maternity of Ganges. They no longer expect anything from Cap Santé, accused of not doing everything possible to save maternity. Therefore, they ask the state to take care of maternity. Bruno Canard is one of the members of the collective. For him, “if the state does nothing to save the maternity of Ganges, there will be deaths! There are no possible red herrings! The State must absolutely take its responsibilities, and engage in health!”
One to two hours drive to give birth in major cities in case of closure
The very big concern, in the event of closure, is indeed women forced to drive 1 hour, even 2 hours to go and give birth in Montpellier, Nîmes, or Alèswhere the maternities are already saturated. Some women are already coming from Gard, or even Lozère to give birth
(40,000 people live in the territory covered by the maternity ward). To remove it is therefore to impose on women about to give birth an absolute travel time “unthinkable“, for the collective.
This transition from a private to public status, Gersende Marceau, midwife and member of family planning 34, also defends it: “In many maternities, we are told about profitability. It would take about 360 births per year for a maternity unit to be profitable (in Ganges, we are around 250-300). However, a maternity is an emergency service, which should not be profitable, but accessible to everyone, 30 or 40 minutes from home!“, she is indignant.
A public maternity could solve some recruitment problems
The resumption of maternity by the State could moreover solve a big problem: that of recruiting gynecologists. Emmanuel Grieu, mayor of Mandagout (Gard), and vice-president of the community of communes of the country viganais, knows the subject well. His commune is located twenty kilometers from Ganges, his constituents come to give birth there: “We need emergency measures, and these emergency measures also mean looking for doctors outside the European Union. If they can be found, it is only in the public sector. Why is this not possible in the private sector? Don’t ask me, that too is a consideration beyond me. But yes, in this emergency situation, it must be done!“
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In the meantime, Emmanuel Grieu and the members of the collective say they are ready to do anything to save their maternity, excluding the idea of a perinatal center mentioned by the ARS. “It is also a question of the dynamics of the territory“, recalls Jean-Claude Rodriguez, mayor of Brissac, in the Hérault, seven kilometers from Ganges. “Young people, for them to come and settle in our area, we need a maternity ward! What do we want tomorrow? That everyone go to give birth in the cities? Make baby factories there? No, I am for defending our quality of life, and preserving our motherhood“.
A partnership with Montpellier University Hospital?
A demonstration is scheduled for 6 p.m. this Thursday, November 10, in front of the Saint-Louis de Ganges clinic.. The solution proposed by the collective, for the times to come, since the closure is imminent, is a partnership with the Montpellier University Hospital, before ratifying within a few months the passage under public service status of the maternity ward.