In France, the number of maternity wards has fallen by 33% in twenty years

What is happening at the Nevers maternity ward? “The Nevers maternity hospital is the only one in the Nièvre department, and since April 11 it has been temporarily closed.“, recalls the journalist Aurélie Schiller. There are thus 14 midwives who are on sick leave and at the present time “only emergencies are taken care of“, she specifies. All the other patients are transferred to surrounding maternities such as Bourges, Moulins or Montluçon.

But, “while the recommendation is rather a maximum of 45 minutes drive between home and maternity“, the closest is an hour’s drive away. The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Health Agency had to call on the health reserve. And this is one more step in the disappearance of maternity wards in small towns Moreover, in 2000 France had 721. In 2020, the figure fell to 478, a drop of 33%.Finally, the profession of midwife no longer attracts as much as before.