The Bavarian “midwife bonus” has been approved around 4,600 times in just under five years. As the Bavarian Ministry of Health announced on Sunday, midwives who work freelance in obstetrics can apply for the annual bonus of 1,000 euros. Since 2019, midwives who settle down in Bavaria for freelance work have been able to apply for a one-time bonus of 5,000 euros. According to the information, this has now been approved more than 600 times. The grant is intended to make it easier for freelance midwives to enter or re-enter the profession, the ministry said.
According to the information, the number of midwives in the Free State has increased by ten percent within three years. According to the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL), 3,507 midwives worked in Bavaria last year.
In Bavaria, around 200 study places for academic midwifery training have been created in recent years, said Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). Since 2018, Bavaria has also been supporting the municipalities with the “Future program for obstetrics” so that they can maintain obstetrics close to where they live. Counties and urban districts can receive a subsidy of up to 40 euros for each newborn child. Since then, around 76.6 million euros have flowed into this funding program, it said.