Munich (dpa / lby) – With a new monitoring program, Bavaria wants to reduce or even prevent the shortage of skilled workers in obstetrics. “The supply of midwives in Bavaria is at a very high level across the board. So that we can better record and control the existing and future need for skilled workers, we are now starting a skilled worker monitoring for midwives and medicine providers in Bavaria,” said Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) in Munich. The monitoring will be implemented by experts from the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
“With the midwife bonus and the settlement bonus, we have created two very effective instruments with which we have strengthened midwifery provision in Bavaria,” said Holetschek. The bonus has been applied for more than 4,600 times since it was introduced in 2018 and has been approved almost 4,200 times to date. There were almost 600 applications for the midwife settlement premium, of which around 530 were approved. “With both programs together, we have already supported midwives in Bavaria with more than 6.8 million euros.”
The midwife bonus offers freelance midwives working in obstetrics a grant of 1000 euros per year. It can be reapplied for every year and is initially limited to 2024. Since September 2019, midwives who take up freelance work in Bavaria have received a one-off settlement bonus of EUR 5,000. “We are continuing the establishment bonus and have extended it until December 31, 2023.”
To ensure midwifery care, there has also been a “Future Program for Obstetrics” in Bavaria since 2018. The funding guideline applies until 2025. Counties and urban districts can receive funding of up to 40 euros for each newborn child. In addition, the Free State provides financial support to rural districts and urban districts to compensate for deficits in smaller obstetric centers.
