Difficult working conditions for Norwegian midwives
Staff and union representatives at the maternity ward at Oslo University Hospital (OUS) have sent a formal notice of concern to the County Governor — three midwives have resigned, according to VG today. S&P takes a closer look at the situation.
May 13, 2025
Image by AI/S&P
Average number of midwives
S&P has previously published an article titled Norwegians lost 3.7 healthy life years in 8 years. The article refers to EU figures (2014 to 2022) which, among other things, show how many employees there are in the health sector in European countries relative to population size.
The statistics show that Norway had slightly above the average number of midwives compared with other European countries. Press reports in recent years may suggest that this situation has now deteriorated, so let us take as our starting point that Norway now has an average number of midwives.
Although it is not widely known, both the Ministry of Health and the Directorate of Health are well aware of where Norway stands in the statistics. The question is how the health authorities expect to deliver anything other than mediocre health services when staffing is mediocre.
Staffing ratio and quality
In well-run organisations and enterprises it is common practice to staff according to a ratio. The organisation establishes a staffing ratio based on how many employees are needed to achieve the quality it wants the service to have. The goal is rarely for quality to be perfect; one settles on a ratio that produces acceptable results.
For a description of what quality means for a woman giving birth, or the lack of it, you will find a link at the bottom to an article about how Sofie Frøysaa experienced her birth.
When planning midwife staffing, one would ideally assess how many midwives are needed relative to the expected number of births in the region and what the quality target is; it ought to be possible to expect the health trusts to plan according to such principles. When the situation has not improved, the causes may include the following:
that the only quality target being managed towards is "safe"
that staffing is deliberately set at mediocre quality
that the health trust is so poorly administered that it reduces the quality the midwives are able to deliver
that the quality targets are unrealistic
Voters should set stricter demands
Voters should take on board that the health trusts appear to have an objective of staffing only at average levels, and that the Ministry of Health endorses this. In connection with the white paper on local health services outside hospitals, Minister of Health and Care Services Jan Christian Vestre stated that fewer professionals must treat more patients in the future. This applies to the health trusts as well.
Norway needs a Minister of Health and Care Services who understands that good quality in health services is only possible if the health trust is staffed at a level that enables professionals to deliver good quality. This applies to both professionals and administration, and at the same time the trust must be adequately equipped.
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