Midwives in Sweden are training pregnant mothers to give birth in a car

A hospital closure is forcing expectant mothers to drive roughly 100 km to the nearest one

newborn baby holding hand

by Emma Dodds |
Published on

Midwives are offering training courses to expectant mothers and fathers on how to give birth in a car.

The local maternity ward in Sollefteå is earmarked for closure, making the nearest maternity wards either Örnsköldsvik or Sundsvall - which are both over a 100km drive away.

The training is being offering for pregnant women in case they start to give birth in the car on the way to the hospital.

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Expectant mothers will now have to travel over 100 km to the nearest hospital (Credit: Google Maps) ©Google Maps

Course leader Stina Näslund spoke to The Local, an English-speaking Swedish news site. She said: "It will be something between 120 and 200 kilometres to the nearest maternity ward, and it's winter, it's dark, there's a bad mobile signal, anything can happen on the way - car accidents, the car could break down, you maybe drive off the road. You have to be ready, and the worst could happen even if it is very, very uncommon."

Ms Näslund's course will teach parents how to cope under the stress of giving birth and will give advice on making a long journey when the waters may have already broken - or even if labour begins.

She said: "Keep in mind that a quick delivery may be needed for a first time mother. That's a challenge. Our municipality is huge."

pregnant mother hospital give birth
The course will teach expectant mothers and fathers what to do if labour starts whilst travelling in a car (Credit: Getty Images) ©Getty Images

Although the course was only announced last week, the huge reaction to the course has been a surprise to Ms Näslund. She said: "We have always had a maternity ward in Sollefteå, so this it will be new for the area when the ward closes in two weeks.

"It's an economic question: they think they will save millions of kronor by closing the ward. For me, personally, it feels like they are cutting the lifeblood of a society."

Roughly 20,000 people live in the Sollefteå area. Mia Ahlberg, head of the Swedish Midwives Association, thinks the training is a great idea but says it's "tragic" that it is needed. Speaking to Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, she said: "This is a symptom of hospitals closing down in smaller communities. It triggers anxiety among expectant mothers, which cannot be good."

Would you take up the training if your local maternity ward was closing down? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

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