Bavaria wants to pay midwives a bonus of 5,000 euros over the next three years if they settle in the Free State. As Health Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU) announced, the premium was paid in 153 cases in 2023. Since the start of the project in September 2019, the one-off settlement bonus has been paid a total of 685 times. According to state government figures, the number of freelance midwives in Bavaria has increased by around 500 to around 3,500 since 2018.
In addition to the settlement bonus, the midwife bonus is also intended to reduce the shortage. The bonus payment of 1000 euros can be applied for every year by freelance obstetricians. Since 2018, the bonus has been paid out more than 5,000 times.
For many years it has been criticized that there are far too few midwives in the Free State. Obstetricians play an important role not only during deliveries, but also in caring for mothers after birth.