In Ville-Marie, in Témiscamingue, women have not been able to give birth in their city since April 29 and obstetrics are scheduled to close until April 1.is August. In Sept-Îles, in recent days, women with at-risk pregnancies have been transferred elsewhere, with children requiring hospitalization being referred to Baie-Comeau or Quebec. In the region, everywhere, it grumbles. Should we establish a new list of health priorities?
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The article of Press of Tuesday on the women of Chibougamau and the Cree women who are directed respectively towards Dolbeau and Val-d’Or a few weeks before their childbirth, because of shortages of nurses, caused a lot of reactions.
Readers have denounced the case of the Shawville hospital in Pontiac, which has not had obstetric services for more than a year. This shows how the closing of the border with Ontario, where they are normally transferred, has caused many concerns. The Gatineau emergency room was closed for several days at the end of June, it was also pointed out.
To Chandler, “There are birth inductions that are scheduled when the team’s schedule is incomplete. Once there, it’s recklessness, ”denounced in a press release on June 23 the Union of Nurses, Auxiliary Nurses and Respiratory Therapists of Eastern Quebec (SIIIEQ-CSQ).
Stung, the Integrated Health and Social Services Center of the Gaspé responded on Tuesday, also in a press release.
“In addition to undermining, in a completely unjustified way, the confidence of the population in the medical expertise of the obstetrics department of the Chandler hospital, these outings do nothing to help recruit and retain nurses and doctors […]. »
The risks of surprise deliveries
Émilie Lessard-Therrien, Member of Parliament for Québec solidaire, says that her delivery lasted just 1 h 32 min If she had given birth prematurely while obstetrics was closed in Ville-Marie, she herself would have risked hitting herself for 1 h 30 min by car to Rouyn-Noranda, while there is no house or cell phone coverage in many places along the way. “I would have given birth on the road, when Flora needed oxygen at birth. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ÉMILIE LESSARD-THERRIEN
Émilie Lessard-Therrien, Member of Parliament for Québec solidaire, and little Flora
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Jacques Demers, president of the Quebec Federation of Municipalities, believes that when the government “wants to promote the development of the territory, seek ore or promote agricultural production to feed Quebec, it has the responsibility to provide essential services. “.
“We understand that we cannot have a hospital everywhere [tous les] 10 kilometers, but people must have quick access to services, ”insists Mr. Demers.
He says he’s aware, however, that COVID-19 is part of the equation this year, with nurses more deserving of their vacation than ever.
But obstetrics service closures were already very frequent before COVID-19. In Chibougamau as in so many other places, we are so close to the limit, we told Press this week, it is even astonishing that care services do not close even more frequently.
Should we establish a list of services that should never be closed? Obstetrics, which sees to the health of two patients at the same time, including babies at the very beginning of life, should it take priority? Régis Blais, vice-dean at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal and specializes in health policy, notes that these are difficult questions, with so many people being vulnerable.
“Free the treasure! ”
Mr. Blais argues instead for a better distribution of limited resources. Women in large centers are always less than 30 minutes from a hospital, he believes that the expertise of midwives could be used much more in the city, to better be able to send doctors and nurses to the regions.
“I often say: ‘Free the treasure!’ Let us use the full potential of midwives and nurses. Even today, they are too often performers of doctors, while during deliveries without complications, their results become as good as those of doctors, as we see in Nunavik. ”
Nancy Bédard, president of the FIQ, claims to have obtained “major levers” in the collective agreement on which the nurses will vote in August.
“Our approach is to work on all fronts, in particular on working conditions and working conditions, by implementing ratios and adding bonuses to make certain positions even more attractive,” notes Mme Bedard. The impacts of [ruptures] obstetrics services for remote areas are disproportionate to what is observed in urban areas. ”
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