Midwives strike: Newborns and parents sent home without aftercare
New babies are sent home today without getting home care by midwives. mbl.is/Árni Sæberg
"People are anxious and find this very uncomfortable," says head midwife Hilda Friðfinnsdóttir at the National University Hospital in Reykjavik maternity ward. Parents with their newborns have to leave the ward today without secured home care.
Two thirds of all midwives in Iceland went on strike on Monday. Friðfinnsdóttir said however that newborns who need specia care are not sent home.
Women having their first baby at this time will have to stay longer at the ward than usual. There are 24 spaces for parents and babies at the ward and around 10 babies are born every day. Friðfinnsdóttir sees the situation worsening rapidly. "People have to share rooms and in general this is just a very bad situation."
