The Impact of the Closure of Ganges Maternity Hospital on Rural Births in Hérault and the Cévennes: A Case Study of a Birth on the Way

Since the Ganges maternity hospital suspended its activity, future parents from the north of Hérault and the Cévennes must drive more than an hour to give birth in Montpellier or Nîmes. Babies may be born on the way. This is what a family in the village of Madagout experienced.

Audrey and Maël will long remember this evening of August 10, 2023. That day, this young couple, living in the village of Mandagout, near Vigan in the Gard, was awaiting the birth of their third child, who should have come to the world at the Ganges maternity hospital, located in the Hérault department, less than half an hour away.

But now, last winter, the bad news fell: the polyclinic of Ganges, having not found gynecologists-obstetricians to replace three departures, warned that it could no longer ensure deliveries. The Regional Health Agency has announced the closure of the maternity ward of the Saint-Louis de Ganges polyclinic on December 19, 2022.

So, when the contractions started, that famous August 10, Maël and his companion urgently loaded the car with a survival blanket and what to do with bandages on board, heading for the nearest hospital: Arnaud de Villeneuve, located at north of Montpellier, some 50 kilometers from their home.

But, with ten minutes to go until the maternity hospital in Montpellier, the car had to be stopped on the side of the road at Les Matelles, because little Zélia had decided that it was time:

My water broke on the first push in the car and events followed one another: you can feel it happening, you imagine being able to hold back the forces of nature, but it’s not possible! So, we feel that it will happen there, under our own responsibility, and not with the support of a medical team.

Audrey, Zelia’s maman

Audrey was not afraid at the time, it was rather the aftermath of childbirth that worried her: “JI was afraid of heartbreaks and everything that can happen, that we don’t control and that we don’t know during childbirth”.

On the way, Maël called the firefighters and the Samu but, understanding that the ambulance could not reach them in time, the dad made the choice to continue driving as quickly as possible towards the Montpellier hospital:

“Either I stopped to wait for the firefighters, who are not obstetricians or midwives, for 25 minutes to 35 minutes and then a lot could have happened. Either we continue to drive. I chose to go for it but the little one arrived. It came out easily, I just picked it up and we dried it. Then, we traced and we arrived at the hospital with the child who was doing very well and who was at the breast. But there are times when it doesn’t happen like that, deliveries that are more difficult than others, and it’s still a big danger!”

We live far away in a village with small roads, I drove very fast so I potentially endangered my family and the others when there is a maternity hospital which is half an hour away but which is closed!

Maël Jaffrennou, father of 3 children

Today, the young dad wants to rant: “because, for us, it went well and when you think about it, we’re happy, but it’s true that it’s still a danger, a birth! And being accompanied by a medical team in this case is the minimum of things in France!”

One of the hamlets of Mandagout, Cevenol village of 400 inhabitants, located near Vigan, in the Gard. • © FTV

An anger shared by Emanuel Grieu, the mayor of Mandagout where the young couple and their children live: “It’s what we feared that happened with this sudden closure, announced in September 2022. We were immediately worried about the distance: for the most remote villages in our territories, it’s even two hours on the road to join a maternity ward! We are putting the lives of mothers and their children at risk, it is not acceptable”.

Here, we struggle for our territory: it is booming, we have young people settling in, we still have our school! We, rural elected officials, when we see each time that we are put in the way and that we are closed public services, it makes us angry!

Emanuel Grieu, Mayor of Mandagout

The young mayor of this small Cévennes village intends to continue the fight in favor of maintaining local public services and hopes to be able to maintain a constant dialogue with the Regional Health Agency.

Since the announcement of the closure of the Ganges maternity ward, the mayor and many residents of Mandagout have been protesting and mobilizing in favor of maintaining public services in rural areas. • © FTV

However, for its part, the ARS does not use the same language at all and affirms that the maternity ward is not closed.

According to Didier Jaffre, its managing director “the maternity ward is still open at the Ganges clinic, but only deliveries do not take place there. Within the maternity ward, we have set up a perinatal center which allows us to monitor pregnancies in connection with the Montpellier University Hospital.”