Alarm at midwives: Obstetrics in danger - income drops drastically!

Alarm at midwives: Obstetrics in danger - income drops drastically!

Altötting, Deutschland - midwives at the "Innklinikum" Altötting-Mühldorf raise the alarm: from November 2025 there are massive loss of income. Up to 30 percent less income in the case of constant work The midwives fear the current information from Rosenheim24 . The reason for this worrying forecast is a new midwifery aid contract between the statutory health insurance companies (GKV) and the midwife associations, which will come into force from November. The midwives in particular criticize that despite the aim of strengthening one-to-one care, the new regulation is hardly implemented in practice.

In detail, the new contract provides for midwives to receive only 80 percent of the previous hourly wages for the first patient, i.e. 59.42 euros instead of 74.28 euros. For other pregnant women there is only 30 percent of the 80 percent, and the fourth woman is completely eliminated. These serious changes put the freelance midwives, which are already burdened with high financial risks from taxes and insurance, under pressure. The midwives reject a permanent position, as a possible alternative. At the moment, 22 midwives work in the Innklinikum that organize themselves and develop flexible duties.

support and understanding

The clinic director Stefan Todtwalusch has an understanding of the worries of the midwives and emphasizes the need for conversations. Despite the tense situation, the team reports on a positive working atmosphere and no talent problem. In the \ “Innklinikum \”, five children are born every day, but the midwives hope for a political solution to maintain the Bavarian structure of obstetrics.

On April 2, 2025, the arbitration board decided on a fundamental further development of the midwife aid contract, which also shows nationwide effects. Around 20 percent of the births in Germany are looked after by midwives who work freelancers in hospitals and are paid by the health insurance companies. A new remuneration will also be introduced here: from May 1, 2025, the hourly remuneration for one-to-one care is 85.40 euros. For help with labor and birth, only a remuneration of 59.40 euros could be provided, which could also endanger the willingness to work, such as GKV-Spitzenverband reported.

satisfaction and supply bottlenecks

Despite the challenges and the dissatisfaction of many midwives described, the current situation, which is often associated with high workload, denies the inventory that there are extensive deficiency situations in inpatient obstetrics. The majority of mothers are satisfied with the support from midwives, which is supported by a comprehensive examination, which even confirms significant supply bottlenecks in large cities. This shows that the problems in the midwife supply are complex and require far -reaching solutions, such as IGES