Since April 15 and a government decree, new aid for pregnant women living far from a maternity hospital has been put in place. If the mother-to-be lives more than forty-five minutes from her structure, she will be able to benefit from free accommodation with the Health Insurance.
This boost has gone unnoticed, but has just been validated by decree no. 2022-555 of April 14, 2022. It is therefore a precious help for pregnant women far from a maternity hospital.
In the text, it is stated that all women will be able to access a “temporary non-medical accommodation» as soon as they request it.
The only condition is to live more than forty-five minutes from the nearest establishment. “Accommodation may also be offered to pregnant women whose objective circumstances, relating to climatic or road traffic conditions, may lead them to be away for more than forty-five minutes.»specifies the decree.
For five nights or more if necessary
It is specified that the accommodation service will be limited to a maximum of five days “preceding the expected date of delivery assessed by a doctor or midwife». It is specified that this duration can be extended if necessary until the end of the delivery.
Likewise, the text provides that“in the event of a pathological pregnancy (which may lead to complications for the baby or the mother), the accommodation service can be offered at any time during the pregnancy, without the limitation of accommodation to five nights being enforceable». It is a decree in the form of a major advance for women’s rights, with the possibility for future mothers to best prepare for the arrival of their child.
Transport also supported
Another relief for pregnant women, transport may also be covered by health insurance. The last paragraph of the first article specifies that “to be transported from his place of residence to the place of temporary non-medical accommodation […] the pregnant woman concerned benefits, at her request, from transport carried out either by an approved company, or by a taxi company having concluded an agreement with a local health insurance body”.
This transport service to the maternity ward will be covered by health insurance.
Disparate situations according to the territories
This decree is part of a national trend of an increase in the proportion of women of childbearing age living more than forty-five minutes from their home. This is the conclusion of a report by the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Dress), published in July 2021.
The main explanation lies in the closure of many maternity hospitals since the beginning of the 2000s. An AFP survey in November 2021 drew up a quantified assessment of this situation. From 20,000 beds in 742 establishments at the beginning of the century, the situation has clearly deteriorated to reach 14,803 beds in 478 maternity wards. That is a drop of 5,000 places and more than 35% in the number of maternity wards in twenty years. Similarly, the length of stay was almost halved: from 8 to 4.6 days.
However, not all territories were impacted in the same way. The Dress report reveals great disparities in the proportion of women living more than forty-five minutes from a maternity hospital. Among the most affected departments are Haute-Corse (32%), Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (12%) and Corse-du-Sud (11%). In large cities such as Paris, Lyon, Marseille or Lille, this rate is almost zero.