The government closes maternity wards and sends women giving birth to emergency rooms and emergency rooms

Minister of Health Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda stated that hospitals will decide whether they will provide birthing areas for pregnant women in hospital emergency departments and emergency rooms. She admitted that demographic factors influence such decisions.

From January 1, hospitals that do not have gynecological and obstetrics departments will be able to organize a place for women giving birth in emergency rooms or hospital emergency departments.

– The care we offer in wards or emergency departments will be voluntary for hospitals that want to give up delivery rooms – said the Minister of Health, Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda, on Monday in Elbląg. She admitted that currently the ministry “receives a lot of applications as part of consultations”.

– I am confident about the safety of this solution because it is dealt with by Minister Maciejewski, who, as an experienced gynecologist, makes every effort to ensure that this solution is safe for women, because that is what we care about – assured Sobierańska-Grenda. She added that facilities that consider such a solution “take into account the demographics that affect us in the country.”

At the end of October, a draft amendment to the regulation of the Minister of Health on guaranteed benefits in the field of hospital treatment was submitted for public consultation. The amendment is intended to enable the provision of the service “Care for a pregnant woman or a woman giving birth by a midwife” by healthcare providers with an emergency room or a hospital emergency department (ED) and located at a distance of more than 25 km from the nearest hospital with an obstetrics and gynecology department. The ministry admitted that the project is a response to the closure of maternity wards due to the low number of deliveries.

The draft Ministry of Health also provides that a hospital providing the service “Care for a pregnant woman or a woman giving birth provided by a midwife” will be obliged to provide access to a means of transport adapted to transport a pregnant woman, a woman giving birth, a woman in childbirth or a newborn. Transport will be carried out by a team consisting of three medical professionals, including a midwife and two paramedics.

The regulation would enter into force on January 1, 2026 (PAP)

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