The midwives of the Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) sent “a letter of despair” to the public authorities at the beginning of November. They try as best they can to keep homeless mothers who have just given birth in the hospital.
Midwives from several maternity hospitals in the Ile-de-France region are warning of a deteriorating situation: due to the lack of emergency accommodation places and to prevent them from ending up on the street, homeless mothers are kept at home. hospital after giving birth, some for months, while the average length of stay is three to five days after giving birth.
According to the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS), 44 women were in this situation the week of November 13 in more than half of the 45 maternity hospitals in the region, especially in the north-east of Paris, in Seine. -Saint-Denis and in Val d’Oise. Services are often already saturated and chronically understaffed. An untenable and unprecedented situation for the midwives at Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis, who sent a letter to the public authorities at the beginning of November. The oldest patient gave birth three months ago.
Patients forced to give birth in the emergency room, “without an epidural”
At Delafontaine hospital, 115 no longer responds, alarms Camille, a midwife at the maternity ward for 7 years. “There is always the little music from 115 in the rooms, but after an hour he hangs up without answering.” At the moment there are ten mothers waiting with their babies following this diaper. Without this shaky solution, they would sleep on the sidewalk. “In a department where normally we were at 40 beds, given the understaffing, we find ourselves at 30 beds. Having ten patients who are at 115, it is very complicated to be able to accommodate new patients who are followed at the maternity wards and who find themselves having to be transferred to other hospitals, because we lack resources and places. It’s a loss of opportunity for everyone.”
These women, essentially migrants, isolated and with chaotic life paths, “find themselves a little helplessregrets Camille, midwife. We are more likely not to necessarily go see them, so they are the ones who suffer behind.”
“I try to do as much as possible, but I know that I can have tendencies to be abusive in spite of myself.”
Camille, midwifeat franceinfo
Also with regard to patients who come to give birth urgently and who, due to lack of a suitable bed, have to do without anesthesia, laments Edith Rain, a midwife for 28 years. “Patients arrive, they will be followed in the emergency room, they will give birth in the emergency room, which means without an epidural. And that is extremely unfortunate.”
“The basic problem is that there is a crisis in emergency accommodation”
Edith Rain initiated a letter sent to the public authorities at the beginning of November. A “mail of despair” remained a dead letter, except for the response of two deputies, including the communist Stéphane Peu. “The basic problem is that there is a crisis in emergency accommodation. Between the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023, there are 3,000 emergency accommodation places which were hotel nights, which have closed, including 2,000 in Seine-Saint-Denis. An additional difficulty is that exits from emergency accommodation are very complicated due to the housing problems in our country.”
The 2,000 emergency accommodation places reserved for pregnant mothers or mothers who have given birth are often saturated, admits the Ile-de-France prefecture. She says she is looking for additional places.