The midwives of Bizkaia are taking to the streets to denounce the "serious" lack of staff they suffer in summer in their facilities. Under the slogan Unrepresented midwives, unattended women have called for a strike next Monday, July 1. In addition, on the same day a demonstration will be held in Bilbao, from 11:00 a.m., from the Sacred Heart of Bilbao. According to the Euskadi Nursing Union, Satse, midwives are "very concerned" about the future of their profession and about the health of women and families.

Summer cutbacks limit fundamental rights to sexual and reproductive health for those serving, according to the union, and mean "disdain" women's attention: "They are denied year-round services and denied short-term care. This causes delay, discomfort and insecurity in the decisive moments of women's lives". They have therefore called on Osakidetza not to take measures with a negative impact on women's health and to establish an "effective" and "lasting" political contract to fill the workers' gaps.

According to the union, there is no generational change and the number of specialised training places is low. Therefore, the inadequate ratio between midwives and users is becoming chronic. They have also denounced that the situation is worsening as a result of the summer cuts.

Need for strategic planning

According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), shortages of midwives require long-term planning. The aim is to improve infrastructures, to establish concrete channels of referral and to create sufficient budgetary resources and allocations to strengthen trade union services calidad.El has been made clear by Osakidetza's attitude: "These goals should be the top priority targets for Osakidetza, but we still have no strategic planning and no solutions," he added.

The union has also referred to the importance of midwives' work and stressed that it is not limited to childbirth care: "They are professionals prepared to take care of women throughout their lives", explained that they are responsible for sex education for adolescents, care to avoid unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, care for contraception, pregnancy, childbirth and childbirth, prevention of gynecological cancer and many other issues.