DutchNews.nl - Hospital baby deaths much higher at night

Hospital baby deaths much higher at night

Friday 18 January 2008

The number of new-born babies that die in Dutch hospitals is 23% higher at night and 7% higher at the weekend partly due to the lack of skilled staff on duty, according to research by the university hospitals in Rotterdam and Utrecht.

Gynaecologists Gerard Visser and Eric Steegers also point out that Caesarean operations now account for 15% of all births in the Netherlands, a three-fold increase on 20 years ago.

Meanwhile home births, which used to be considered normal in the Netherlands, now only account for around 10% of births in major cities such as Rotterdam and Utrecht, say Visser and Steegers.

Half of the women who want to give birth at home end up needing hospital treatment, they say. And while an emergency can arise at any time, gynaecology departments are not geared to cope with this and only have assistants on duty at nights and weekends.

‘The unique Dutch system of midwifery is under pressure. Baby mortality rates are no longer among the lowest in Europe and have not been for some time. Maternal deaths have risen in the last 20 years and in half of these cases there is talk of sub-standard care,’ say Visser and Steegers.

The researchers conclude that the midwifery sector in the Netherlands needs to be restructured to give more emphasis on postnatal care and round-the-clock availability of gynaecologists in hospitals.

The research was published on the website of the medical magazine Medisch Contact on Friday.

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Readers' comments

I think many midwives approach childbirth with the view that it has been "medicalised" by the MD profession - treated too much like a disease. There's probably some truth to that. But I suspect that the taboo against pain meds in labor is connected to the idea that the medical profession has to treat labor as something totally different to a serious medical condition.

That's a mistake, and one that causes IMHO a lot of unnecessary misery for women.

By lola granola | January 18, 2008 3:35 PM

Hello, I wish labor risks were taken more seriously. Of course an uncomplicated labor does not need medical interventions but once things don't go normally action should be taken quickly. The wait and see technique applied to many medical situations in the NL can't be the only solution .

By mom | January 19, 2008 8:24 AM

Why use an aansteker when you can start a fire by rubbing two sticks together? Who needs technology and progress? I cannot understand why anyone would take the risk of home delivery when there is a hospital available to everyone in NL.

Having read this article, I suppose that unless you know you are going to deliver Monday through Friday between 9:00 and 18:00, you're just as well off to take your chances with home delivery.

When is Holland going to become a first world country and realize that some things need to be provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? Time of day or day of the week should NEVER dictate the availibility of medical treatment - EVER!

By Tim Lee | January 21, 2008 11:58 AM

I'm just going to say, "Yeah, what Tim said..." because he just nailed it on the head.

By Lonna Brown | January 21, 2008 11:50 PM

Having a child (planned C-section due to medical reasons) last month I have my own first-hand experience of the staff shortages.

Being placed next to the baby room I was aware all through the night of howling (not just crying) babies and wondering if one of them was mine (invariably many times it was!) I was compelled to get up (not easy when you have just had a c-section) to check.

After birth for the first 24 hours my baby was "breathless" and I was told to just "wait and see" which was not exactly re-assuring.

Also there was limited staff to support with breast feeding and as a result I never managed to succeed.

The British hospitals and midwivies are in a worse shape so I can't complain, but still this is poor service especially now that I see the resulting invoices a month later!

By New Mum | January 22, 2008 2:57 PM

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