It is a place that sums up years of struggle for the rights of women to dispose of their bodies. The maternity of Lilas (Seine-Saint-Denis) is threatened with closure. The establishment, emblematic of the fight for abortion, for the respect of the physiology of childbirth and the choices of women, has been experiencing financial difficulties for more than ten years. Faced with a deficit of several million euros and the disagreement between potential buyers and employees on the philosophy of the place, the regional health agency (ARS) of Ile-de-France could decide not to renew its authorization to exercise.
Collectives of caregivers and users met on Friday April 29, at 5 p.m., in front of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, to save this symbol, while the decision of the ARS must be made on June 2. Several scenarios are discussed, ranging from outright closure to a merger with the Vauban clinic, in Livry-Gargan, reports France 3. Located a few kilometers from the Lilas maternity hospital, the Vauban clinic owns the AVEC group, a French behemoth of care and support services for families, which has 245 health and medico-social establishments across France.
“We are calling for a strong mobilization to save this maternity, a symbol of women’s rights, but also essential in this department, which has the highest number of births in Seine-Saint-Denis”comments Corina Pallais, psychologist at the Lilas maternity hospital for twenty-seven years, interviewed by France 3. “Users and caregivers do not want to take over or move”warns the SUD union representative.
“Give birth freely”
Launched by a former maternity patient, a petition, signed by nearly 35,000 people, “calls on the ARS and the Ministry of Health to take up the file, renew the authorizations and save this establishment”. The text first summarizes the difficulties:
“Unsuitable building, financial difficulties, pressure from the ARS to comply with profitability objectives, political abandonment, internal difficulties within the teams are all challenges that the latter face for patients. »
For Jeanne Barral, a 33-year-old museum curator behind this petition, the mobilization in favor of motherhood constitutes a “issue of public health, feminism and local employment, because 120 jobs are at stake”, she explains to 20 minutes. In the petition, she also recalls the philosophy of this place: “That of giving birth, or not, and as desired, possibly in a physiological and non-medical way. »
At a time when feminist movements have been denouncing obstetrical violence and the over-medicalization of childbirth for several years, the Lilas maternity hospital defends “free choice”the possibility of“to give birth freely” and “benevolent accompaniment” provided mainly by midwives. These latter constitute ” the reason of being ” of this establishment, recalled in March Corina Pallais to Release.
In unison, its defenders fear that the singular identity of the non-profit establishment will be misguided in the event of a takeover, in favor of profitability objectives. “If maternity is absorbed, doctors will be freelancers, and no longer salaried”continues Corina Pallais, who is worried about this new model where obstetricians will be “paid by the task”.
The cradle of many fights for better support for women, the history of maternity is studded with financial crises, while the number of deliveries there is falling, from 1,540 in 2015 to 1,278 in 2020, according to Release.
Many supports
The little level 1 maternity ward (unable to treat high-risk pregnancies) has nevertheless built a solid reputation since its creation. Founded in 1964 by the Comtesse de Charnières, the Lilas maternity hospital is based on the method of painless childbirth, theorized by obstetrician Fernand Lamaze, founder of the Parisian clinic Les Bluets. There, women can give birth without an epidural, in the position that suits them, with a variety of preparations, ranging from sophrology to hypnosis, including prenatal singing.
Her story is also closely linked to the fight for contraception and voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG). If 1,200 births are celebrated each year at the Lilas maternity hospital, the establishment also performs nearly 900 abortions. More recently, the maternity unit has distinguished itself by providing support for the first pregnancy of a transgender man recognized by civil status. “I have always thought that this place should have had a special status, it is a real conservatory of humanity”entrusted to miss Chantal Birman, the iconic midwife in Aude Pépin’s documentary, To the lifewho worked for forty years in the establishment.
This positioning has allowed the maternity ward to count on many supports, including that of Catherine Ringer, the singer of Rita Mitsouko, who wrote a song for motherhood in 2013, when the establishment was already threatened with closure. As early as 2011, actress Karin Viard recounted her two deliveries in this maternity ward. “For them, the truth is everyone’s truth”underlined the actress in a videoevoking a place where caregivers “do not apply dogmas”.