A majority of the country’s regions do not have enough midwives to cope with the staffing of births during the summer. Holidays have been granted thanks to pensioners and rental staff.
– It is incredibly fragile, says Michael Viklund at the delivery in Umeå.
SEK 25,000 to move a vacation week, managers who are forced to take midwife passes and closed delivery rooms. The situation in maternity care before the summer is strained in many regions.
Several maternity wards have to cut back on operations, shows TT’s survey to all regions of the country. In Uppsala, for example, they have been forced to reduce the number of care places and staffing at BB. In Växjö, they are forced to close two delivery rooms.
Going down to minimum staffing
The situation before the summer differs in different parts of the country compared to last summer. Seven regions state that the situation is better this year, eight that it is the same as last year and four that the situation is worse. Two regions answer that the situation differs in the maternity wards of different localities.
In Karlskrona, all six delivery rooms will be open, but minimum staffing will be reduced. Hourly workers, parental leave, pensioners and even managers take midwifery to solve the situation.
– As head of department, I work as a midwife during certain shifts. It is both good and bad. For my own part, I think it’s fun, but we still have to take care of management and everything around it, says Helén Lövdahl, head of department at the maternity hospital in Karlskrona.
25,000 for moved holiday week
This year, 17 out of 21 regions are bringing in surrogate midwives to cover staffing levels. But several regions state that it is also difficult to get hold of midwives for hire during the summer period.
All regions have been able to grant four weeks of continuous leave to the midwives who wish. All regions except Dalarna, Jönköping and Gotland simultaneously offer bonuses to midwives who move vacation weeks outside the summer period.
The highest bonus is given in Norrbotten, with 25,000 kroner per holiday week, followed by 20,000 per week in Värmland, Gävleborg and Örebro.
Seven regions state that the situation in maternity care is better for this summer compared to last year, eight that it is the same as last year and four that the situation is worse. Two regions answer that the situation differs in different maternity wards.
Eleven out of 21 regions state that there is a risk that women may be forced to travel to another region to give birth. Those regions are: Blekinge, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, Kronoberg, Skåne, Stockholm, Uppsala, Västmanland, Örebro, Östergötland.
17 out of 21 regions state that they bring in surrogate midwives. The regions that do not do so are Örebro, Dalarna, Västra Götaland and Gotland.
18 regions give bonuses to midwives who move one or more holiday weeks. Those that do not give bonuses for moved holiday weeks are Dalarna, Jönköping and Gotland.
16 regions also give bonuses to midwives who take extra shifts. 18 regions hire pensioners to get staffing together.
All regions state that they have been able to grant four weeks of combined leave to the midwives who requested it this summer.
Source: TT’s survey, answered by all 21 regions during the period 10-23 May 2023.