There was an emergency! According to INSEE, the infant mortality rate in France went from 3.5 deaths per 1,000 births in 2011 to 4.1 in 2024, placing the country at 23ᵉ rank on 27 countries of the European Union. A situation deemed all the more alarming as it goes against the current evolution in most European countries.
Three years planned without any closure
Driven by deputy Paul-André Colombani (Liot group), the bill voted Thursday thus establishes a freezing of maternity closings for a period of three years (except imperative security). It was adopted by a large majority, with 97 votes for and only 4 against. Why such a need? Because the situation is no longer tenable.
The supporters of the text thus recalled that the number of maternities has been divided by three in half a century, going from 1,369 to 464 since 1975. A series of decisions resulting in a significant lengthening of journeys for pregnant women, and threatened perinatal health-which the figures reflect.
More than 45 minutes today to reach a maternity hospital
It must be said that these successive closures have particularly marked, even bereaved, rural areas and overseas departments. In some areas, in 2025, women about to give birth must travel more than 45 minutes to reach a maternity hospital – sometimes even 1:30. Gold, “The risk of neonatal death is multiplied by two when the journey to maternity exceeds 45 minutes”supported the defenders of the moratorium.
There will therefore be no more maternities closed in the coming years (except in the event of danger to patient safety, mentions the text), so as not to increase this loss of luck and to take stock of the situation. A moratorium that is accompanied by the creation of a national birth register, intended to better identify the causes of infant mortality and to guide public policies.
A first step, before focusing on prevention
Journalist at Humanity and author of 4.1 – The scandal of deliveries in France With Sébastien Eurquin, Anthony Cortes welcomes a “first answer” to the crisis:
“”It is a beautiful first stone in the face of the worrying increase in the infant mortality rate. With this moratorium and the creation of the register, we finally give ourselves the means to draw up a real national and territorial inventory to act accordingly. This amended text also opens up important lines of reflection, such as the revision of the decrees of 1998 or the method of financing the obstetrics in France. “
However, he alerts the many challenges that remain to be met:
“”It will be necessary to go further, in particular on prevention – while the maternal and infantile protection centers are in great difficulty -, on the territorial network of maternities, or on the recognition and accompaniment of perinatal mourning. But at least, France begins to react to this increase in infantile mortality which has lasted since 2020. It has nothing to do in 23ᵉ Row European, nor to the 27ᵉ row of the OECD“, he assures True Medical.
Anyway, this moratorium marks a turning point in French perinatal politics. It now remains to transform this awareness into concrete commitments to permanently stop the increase in infants’ deaths.