The important reason this midwife's uniform went viral
Being overworked and understaffed is a state of being many hospital employees can relate to. Swedish midwife Petra Vinberg Linder is one of many subjected to grueling hours.
On one particularly busy night shift, Ms Vinberg Linder was unable to take a toilet break. She shared a photograph on Facebook of her work scrubs stained with period blood on the crotch to demonstrate the incredible pressures of her line of work.
“Night shift midwife = had three childbirths,” she posted along with the photograph. “You don’t have time to pee or change sanitary products. Thanks and goodnight.”
Initially, Ms Vinberg Linder’s post was set to private, but she changed the settings to public because it had resonated with so many women.
Speaking to The Local, she explained: “It’s a very difficult field of work. I love my job, I chose it and I want to work in this field, but I wonder after a night like this how many years I’ll manage.”
‘I’m 40, I’ll work to 65 if I’m fit, but can you manage that? There are so many people in this country who want to work with childbirth, but don’t because of the working conditions.’
The midwife also told HuffPost UK that on the night her photograph was taken, “all hospitals in Stockholm were occupied and full”.
“We had to refer women to other counties. We must have one more clinic. Midwives are tired," she explained.
“We want and need more maternity staff. Now.”
This article first published on Marie Claire.
