Tallinn maternity hospitals report falling birth rates
Two of Tallinn's main hospitals are scaling back their maternity ward activities due to low birth rates, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.
"Up to now compared with the same period last year there have been nearly 200 fewer births, and by the end of the year, we expect the total to be 250-300 fewer," Tarmo Bakler, head of the East Tallinn Central Hospital (ITKH), said.
Across town at the West Tallinn Central Hospital (LTKH) the situation is similar.
LTKH's previously profitable maternity ward has been running at a loss in recent years due to the falling number of births, something which has necessitated a restructuring.
"When we only have five to six births in 24 hours, then we must consider optimizing operations, so this is on our agenda, especially given that the healthcare fund deficit is now a harsh reality. This means all optimization measures of this kind are crucial," LTKH chief doctor Arkadi Popov told "Aktuaalne kaamera".
At its peak, ITKH, Estonia's largest maternity hospital (Sünnitusmaja), hosted 4,300 births, but last year, just over 3,000 children were born there.
Tarmo Bakler said that this year there have been days where the number of births was as high as 15 or more, but other days where it was zero.
This means the maternity ward needs to be geared up towards the busier days, meaning there will be no scaling down as things stand.
Bakler said that consolidating all births into a single hospital in Tallinn is also not feasible given the current low number of births, and groundwork to do this has not been laid anyway.
Popov listed several options, one being to continue with two maternity hospitals, to maintain better crisis preparedness – a lesson learned during the Covid pandemic when Popov was a particularly prominent figure.
The number of births has fallen by nearly a third in ten years, while this year, it may fall below 10,000 for the whole year.
The Ministry of Social Affairs is preparing a plan which includes financial incentives to encourage the consolidation of certain services, including maternity care, into larger hospitals.
Heli Paluste, head of the healthcare network at the ministry, said this was "not so much about the numbers, but rather we are discussing the consolidation of hospitals in general," at least so far as Tallinn is concerned.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Valner Väino
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' reporter Hanneli Rudi.
