Midwife

Afternoon surgeries at Athens' Alexandra Hospital have been suspended indefinitely as midwives refuse to participate due to unpaid wages.

The midwives, who play a vital role in assisting surgical teams, have not been compensated for the work they have performed in surgeries since April this year. As a result, no afternoon surgeries have been scheduled for the upcoming week.

In a poignant story emerging from Mytilene Hospital, a newborn baby girl has captured the hearts of the staff in the obstetrics clinic. Born on September 10, 2024, to a mother who arrived prematurely from the Turkish coast, the baby’s entry into the world was overshadowed by a tragic circumstance: her mother, reportedly a victim of rape, abandoned her immediately after birth.

Most mothers remember that they started paying for their child before they even gave birth to it. They paid for the gynecologist, some specialized tests, nutritional supplements, the private maternity hospital, the midwife. If they had to do IVF, the financial burden was even greater.

Milka Vasileva, president of the Bulgarian Association of Health Care Professionals, has raised alarm over the state of the healthcare system, revealing that a third of nurses and a quarter of midwives are of retirement age. She warned that the departure of these seasoned professionals could lead to a collapse of the system.

While assurances of salary boosts for nurses employed in kindergartens and nurseries have been made recently, the fundamental challenges endure, plunging the sector into a precarious situation.

L.D., aged 32, gave birth to twins by caesarean section in September. The midwives did not place the newborns on her chest, as is customary. There were other arms waiting for them with anxiety, love and emotion, a few floors above. Those of 37-year-old F.P. and her husband. They had been trying to become parents for years but one miscarriage followed another. F.P.

Vui pointed out that he is very sorry for everything that happened.
"We can't revive the child, but we can try to make sure it never happens in the future. I saw that all the midwives were very fair and that they mostly confirmed what you said," said Vui.
Marica thanked the president for receiving her.

About 63% of the nurses in Bulgaria who currently work in medical facilities are over 63 years old. "This means that they are of retirement age," said the chairwoman of the management board of the Bulgarian Association of Health Care Professionals (BAHPA) Milka Vasileva.

Three of the employees at the "Sheynovo" hospital in Sofia are subject to disciplinary sanctions because of the case of the swapped newborns who are not yet with their biological parents. These are the head of neonatology, the senior midwife and the doctor on duty.

Ljubljana – The Chamber of Nursing and Midwifery said on Monday it was surprised by Health Minister Danijel Bešič Loredan’s claim in a recent interview that there are no medical staff shortages in Slovenia. The chamber said its data showed health institutions were understaffed and overburdened.