Industrial action at the Mater Dei Hospital maternity department has been called off by the nurses’ union after more than a week which proved to be especially tough for new parents.

In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, Health Minister Chris Fearne confirmed the directives had been suspended, saying that good will had prevailed. No details on the proposals were given by the minister.

Following discussions this morning, good will prevails and #MUMN suspending industrial actions at #maternity department at Mater Dei.

— Chris Fearne (@chrisfearne) June 26, 2019

The industrial action was sparked when the hospital management stopped a midwives’ roster that was in place for over eight years. The hospital has now reverted to the old system. 

The union's industrial action had made it impossible for fathers to stay in the ward overnight when their partners had just given birth. This led to anger among new parents who were livid at the situation, describing it as “inhumane”.

Hospital sources said that in normal circumstances a father could only stay the night if given special permission by the charge nurse, but the facility was given to almost all fathers who wanted to stay. One father was asked to leave soon after his baby was born in the middle of the night.

Mothers also complained about midwives not washing their babies as a result of the action ordered by the union. Instead, the midwives stood nearby and gave them instructions on how to go about washing the new-borns.

Union president Paul Pace told Times of Malta the directives were issued after the hospital management changed midwives’ working hours without consultation.

“There was a roster and the management all of a sudden decided it was time to stop it," he said, pointing out some midwives were allowed to continue being part of the old roster.

Following the suspension of the industrial action, Mr Pace said this was not a victory for the union but for the midwives and the services they gave.