Give birth to children? Only from 7 to 17 o'clock
Without them, hardly a child is born in Germany: midwives are an enormously important pillar in hospitals and in free obstetrics. But this is currently shaking vigorously.
As of July 2015, freelance midwives have a major financial problem: their professional liability contributions increase by 23 percent. That's € 6,274 a year for every midwife - a cost that the women, who do not make much money anyway, have to pay for themselves. And force more and more midwives to give up their profession. Because it just is not worth it anymore.
In Bruchsal in Baden-Wuerttemberg now shows where the shortage of midwives can lead. The Fürst-Stirum-Klinik has not been able to maintain 24-hour operation in the delivery room since May. Therefore, women can only give birth to their children between 7 am and 5 pm. Except for absolute emergencies.
Who comes in the afternoon with labor, is rejected
"If a pregnant woman comes to us during the day and we realize that it takes until the birth, we refer her to another clinic, the next being 15 kilometers away from us," Regional Director Susanne Jansen told Spiegel Online.
At the moment there are almost only consultations and examinations of pregnant women taking place during the day, as well as planned births, ie cesarean sections.
This limitation was not easy for heads of the clinic. However, as many slip midwives failed unexpectedly and no substitutes were found in the near future, the clinic saw no other option. "The safety of pregnant women is our top priority," says Susanne Jansen.
From July, the bottleneck is also overcome, then there is again a 24-hour operation. For now.
Susanne Jansen sees the reason for the lack of midwives mainly in the cost pressure. "Many midwives are frustrated and give up their jobs, and all of our midwives, in addition to working with us, are also self-employed and therefore affected by high insurance costs." The hospital is currently considering paying the costs of luring midwives to Bruchsal.
A relaxation of the situation is not in sight despite many protests. The Federal Government has given the statutory health insurance funds (GKV-SV) the task of finding a solution by participating in the insurance costs. But all negotiations with the Midwives Association have failed so far.
"Shameless price war"
Among other things, the Midwives Association faces up, because the health insurance companies want to severely restrict the cost coverage for extra-hospital births (such as home births). In addition, the grants should only apply to midwives who have very few births. Midwives with many births would therefore go out empty.
This is nothing but a "punishment for a lot of work," according to Jana Friedrich from the midwife blog. She observes the negotiations for months and says: "It's simply about the money and the GKV-SV shamelessly exploits the prevailing pressure for the price war."
Jana Friedrich also writes on her blog how parents can continue to support midwives through protest.
"Right in the middle of a care catastrophe"
But time is now dangerously short, so the midwife. Care gaps across the country are hard to avoid. Already today she receives daily mails from expectant mothers who no longer find a midwife for care and aftercare, because they are all booked.
"We are already in the middle of it," she writes in an open letter to the statutory health insurances and health minister Gröhe.
My letter //t.co/oeTRrWOOTt to #Bundesgesundheitsminister + #GKV What would be in yours? #Parents protest pic.twitter.com/FAEL0j59MR
? Jana Friedrich (@Bammenblog) June 18, 2015In it, she calls on those responsible to finally act and to meet the midwives - as long as there are any.
"Many of my colleagues have already given up their profession," says Jana Friedrich. "However, I do not know any who, after the reorientation, would have gone back to the midwife profession, why?" That is less attractive than ever! "
