Too few midwives, too many children: the supply situation in Munich has been tense for many years. The city has now extended a funding program to relieve midwives and enable nationwide care.
Finding freelance midwives to accompany mothers for three months after giving birth is very difficult. The supply situation in Munich has been tense for many years. Too few midwives, too many children. Capacities also vary by neighborhood.
The health committee of the city council has now decided to extend the support program for obstetrics until 2025, which has been implemented in the state capital since 2018. The aim of the “future program for obstetrics” set up by the Bavarian Ministry of Health is to support the municipalities financially so that “wide” obstetric midwifery care is made possible. Within the framework of the “Guideline for the Promotion of Midwifery in Bavaria”, 900,000 euros are available in grants each year. The city contributes 10 percent of these costs.
The search for a midwife should start early. Many Internet portals refer to this. “Early” – Iris Schreck, 32, took this advice to heart. Already in the seventh week of pregnancy she started searching. As she says, she searched for midwives on several portals and created real lists of names. First she specifically looked for midwives who are responsible for the Schwabing district and who also agree with her. She made many phone calls. No chance. “I was so frustrated,” she says, “that I ended up dialing numbers at random.” A midwife who is not responsible for Schwabing then offered her online support. No option for Iris Schreck.
The northern and western outskirts are undersupplied
There are 484 freelance midwives in Munich. Between January and July, the health department asked her about her services and offers as well as her personal work situation. Persistent overload is a result of the survey. The other: unequal distribution of midwife capacities in the districts. Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied on the western outskirts and Feldmoching-Hasenbergl on the northern outskirts are particularly undersupplied.
Health officer Beatrix Zurek (SPD) cites the increasing number of births in and around Munich as one of the reasons for the bottlenecks: “In 2021 around 24,000 children were born in Munich, the year before there were around 1000 fewer births,” she says. In addition, there would also be spatial capacity bottlenecks in inpatient obstetrics. The extension of the funding program could, for example, finance medical assistants who take over non-specialist tasks from midwives.
After a long search, Iris Schreck found a midwife who comes by regularly. And – she is very happy about it – “a good one”.