They say they are disappointed, disgusted or angry. Following the publication of the report of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) on the development of their profession, the representatives of midwives are unanimous in considering the avenues mentioned as insufficient. A meeting is to take place on Thursday, September 16, with the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, and his Secretary of State Adrien Taquet.
This profession, which considers itself to be a great “forgotten” of the Ségur de la santé, has been mobilized for several months to denounce too low wages, a lack of staff, deplorable working conditions and above all a status that does not suit it. . In response to this discontent, the government launched this IGAS mission. “This report was expected in June. To tell the truth, I would even say that we have been waiting for it for ten years ”, comments Marianne Benoit Truong Canh, vice-president of the National Council of the Order of Midwives (CNOSF). And after a first reading, his reaction is sharp: “Basically, there are some good and some not so good. About the form I am dismayed. “
The Vice-President summed up the 109-page report to one sentence: “Page 22, note 88: gynecologists represent medical, intellectual and moral authority, build knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth and define the principles of operation in maternity hospitals. “ A formulation “Sexist” and ” unsustainable “ for this midwife from Hauts-de-Seine.
“ I’ve been fighting for ten years, I’ve never read such a thing. We are not under the thumb of obstetrician gynecologists. Even less under their authority “intellectual” and “moral”. Midwives do everything in the delivery room. If something goes wrong, it is their responsibility that is engaged, not that of the doctor ”, she exasperates. A feeling shared by Anna Roy, midwife in Ile-de-France:
“I have the impression that we are still taken for little girls without skills under the tutelage of doctors. “
“Tailor-made” status
Midwives are part of the hospital public service. They claim the status of hospital practitioner (PH). “In law, our profession is medical. In practice and training too. But, in the statute, we depend on the paramedic ”, explains Marianne Benoit Truong Canh.
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