"Financial Catastrophe": Securing Banknotes for Tomorrow

The midwifery community in Germany is voicing their concerns over the upcoming midwifery contract, set to take effect on November 1, 2025. The contract, which regulates the care of mothers and babies, specifies the conditions for 1:1 births, where a midwife takes care of a single mother for at least two hours before and after the birth to qualify for the higher rate.

Under the new regulation, contract midwives who provide care to only one pregnant woman will earn more money: 59.40 euros per hour, plus a 26 euro surcharge. However, midwives are worried about the lack of provisions for weekends when gynecological practices are closed, and question who will take care of women in need during these times.

The new fee regulation prioritizes 1:1 care of women in labor, but births are not predictable, making it challenging for midwives to conform to the 2-hour requirement for 1:1 care. Moreover, the new contract does not allow midwives to bill for additional services like measuring blood pressure, examining the child immediately after birth, or other individual services around the birth separately.

Midwives are concerned about the lack of appreciation for their work and the responsibility they bear, and are seeking public support to prevent the implementation of the midwifery contract on November 1. They have launched a joint postcard campaign and an online petition to improve the new contract before it takes effect. The online petition can be signed at www.openpetition.de/petition/online/fuer-den-erhalt-einer-sicheren-individuellen-geburtshilfe-stoppt-den-neuen-hebammenhilfevertrag-2.

Many clinics nationwide, including those at the Medical Campus Bodensee (MCB), contract with teams of midwives to maintain clinical obstetrics and ensure the right to call on freelance midwives. However, the new contract will significantly worsen the financial situation of freelance midwifery teams, according to the midwives. The midwifery teams at the MCB find the new contract a catastrophe.

The arbitration panel of the association of health insurance funds and two professional associations decided on the fee regulation in April. However, the specific representatives from the professional organizations and the GKV association who apparently opposed the new midwife care agreement and might play a role in any potential changes are not named in the available search results.

The new midwifery contract offers higher remuneration for contract midwives who provide care to only one pregnant woman, but the midwives are concerned about the potential impact on their work and the care they can provide to mothers and babies. They are urging the public to support their campaign to improve the new contract before it takes effect on November 1, 2025.