The Present Situation of Obstetrical Medical Institutions in Kagoshima, and Dispatching Midwives to Tanegashima Island by Two Hospitals

There are serious midwife shortages in isolated islands in Kagoshima. Many pregnant women in Tanegashima Island, for instance, who want to deliver their babies, are badly in need of the help of midwives. However, the safety of delivery cannot be made light of, even under such circumstances. In order to protect pregnant women and their children, it is necessary to increase the number of midwives. In Tanegashima, the number of births is about 200 a year. So the island community has to secure 6 or 8 midwives at least. In April 2011, one hospital started dispatching midwives to Tanegashima. Now a number of midwives are working by day and night shifts. We think it is too difficult to increase midwives in Tanegashima in the future. There is no way to secure midwives without dispatching them from Kagoshima city. There are limitations to the number of midwives that can be dispatched from two hospitals. Therefore, many maternity hospitals and obstetrical departments of medical institutions in Kagoshima should unite their efforts to improve this situation. We hope that the midwives in Kagoshima will extend their services from their own hospital to isolated islands in the future.