Midwife Raises Concerns Over Baby Loss Risks Due To Limited Resources At Mater Dei Hospital
A midwife who works at Mater Dei Hospital has raised serious concerns over an increased risks of losing babies due to limited space and staff shortages at the hospital.
This comes as the past few days have seen various reports of bed shortages at Mater Dei hospital, with individuals in emergency situations having to endure extremely long waits, and expectant mothers being advised to go to hospital on induction day, rather than the day prior.
Lovin Malta spoke to a Mater Dei midwife who broke down the intense situation at the labour ward, which is being fuelled by the shortage of staff and space at the national hospital.
Recalling a horrendous scenario which recently unfolded at the hospital, the professional explained how a baby almost died because of the shortage of operating theatres for emergencies.
She explained how presently, there are only two theatres of this kind, saying that there have been cases wherein a “third emergency cropped up” and due to the lack of working space, they almost lost a baby.
The source explained that mothers who have had a “plain-sailing” delivery are being discharged from hospital earlier due to the bed shortages.
“This does not pose a danger to the mother,” she asserted. “The real problem is that even when the mothers are being discharged earlier, we still cannot keep up.”
She explained that there are nine delivery rooms which are usually all full-up. Because of this, some expectant mothers end up delivering their baby in the obstetrics ward which is “not very adequate and most of the time is shared with another” as it usually caters for mothers who are either in their pre-delivery or post-labour stages.
Therefore, whereas a woman usually delivers her baby in a private room, because of the hospital’s over-population problem, she might end up delivering her baby next to another patient, with “only a curtain separating them”.
She also explained that the ward has come to a point where mothers whose babies are receiving care at the NPICU, an intensive care unit for newborns, are having to share a room with a mother who has safely delivered her baby.
The source explained that due to the bed shortage, the midwives’ backs are against a wall and they have to make do with what they have available, while also admitting that this is “very insensitive” to the mother whose baby is at the intensive care unit.
She went on to say that “usually these mothers are placed in a single room, or a shared room with another mother who has her baby at the NCIPU unit too”.
The midwife also touched upon the shortage of staff, recalling that there have been times where there were eight midwives on duty who delivered as many as 16 babies in one night, “besides tending to the mothers who were admitted and did not go into labour, or simply needed monitoring”.
She added that every professional in the labour ward is “burnt out” and taking a proper break during a shift is near impossible.
“We don’t even have time for a pee break,” she continued.
When asked what she believes the reason for these shortcomings to be, the midwife cited an ever-growing population that is not counterbalanced by the stagnant supply at Mater Dei.
“The number of beds has remained the same,” she said.
As a final calling to authorities, in hopes that they listen and provide more support and resources, the midwife appealed for more staff and space, to make sure citizens get the best level of healthcare possible.
“We are so tired that no one wants to work overtime,” the professional explained. “We need more staff and more space,” she insisted.
What do you make of these shocking revelations?
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