The maternity hospitals in Romania are facing severe shortages of doctors and baby care equipment. The country has the highest infant mortality rate in the European Union.

The Ministry of Health and the Save the Children Romania organization have recently carried out a research among the maternity hospitals in Romania. 163 maternities participated in the study, 95 of them being level I maternities, and the rest being level II and III hospitals.

The research found that most maternity hospitals needed more beds, more doctors, and more equipment. For example, the level I maternities have an average of 16 beds in the obstetrics department, below the minimum number of 25 beds stipulated by the Ministry of Health.

Some 91% of the level I maternities have less than five obstetrics and gynecology doctors, 99% have less than five neonatologists, 69% have less than ten nurses in the obstetrics and gynecology department, and 92% have less than ten nurses in the neonatology unit. About 34 hospitals had requests for staff, asking more personnel or training for existing one.

When it comes to lab tests and blood transfusion services, the possibility of carrying out such investigations drops significantly during the night or in non-working days. For example, more than half of the level I maternities can’t perform ultrasounds during the night.

The maternity hospitals also need more baby care equipment. According to the research, 13% of the level I maternities have no standard incubators for premature newborns, 56% of the level II maternity hospitals lack ventilators for respiratory support, and 14% of the level III maternities have only one table for neonatal resuscitation.

However, this is not the only problem when it comes to equipment. Some of the standard incubators from the level I maternities were made in 1977 while some of those in the level II maternity hospitals are even older, from 1967.

All these numbers add up high infant mortality rates. According to Gabriela Alexandrescu, executive president of the Save the Children Romania organization, Romania continues to rank first in the European Union on infant mortality, with a rate of 8.8 per 1,000 live births in 2014, mainly because of premature births.

But things should get better in the medical system in Romania. The Health Ministry allocated EUR 7.3 million this year to buy almost 600 incubators, according to Health Minister Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu, reports local Agerpres.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Salvati Copiii)