Look for a midwife in Germany as soon as possible
It is not overreacting to look for a midwife in Germany as soon as you know about your pregnancy. Trust me, if you want to be dure you have a midwife during your pregnancy and post partum, be sure you look for a midwife as soon as you know about your pregnancy!
Midwife services in Germany
Having my own midwife during pregnancy and postpartum was something I’ve never even though about. I saw it as a luxury service, but in Germany it is actually the “old normal”. In Germany midwifery care is a legal right for all women, and midwives provide maternal care from pregnancy until the end of breastfeeding.
Midwives’ shortage in Germany
Unfortunately there is an increasing shortage of midwives, thus some women and their families live a pregnancy and postpartum without this kind of healthcare services.
Look for a midwife in Germany
It took me many phone calls, messages and emails to finally find my midwife. I didn’t start as soon as I knew I was pregnant, but even so I was able to find one. I am lucky!! In Germany 20% of all pregnant women do not have a midwife during postpartum. One third of those didn’t know they had the right of a midwife, and other third started to search too late, so they couldn’t find any midwife.
And you? Did you find a midwife? How many pregnancy weeks were you? How many calls/SMS/e-mails?
References
▪️M Raddatz et al. Midwifery in Germany – The necessity of developing a workforce and service planning approach, European Journal of Public Health, 29, Sup 4, Nov 2019 https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckz186.419
▪️ kinderheldin.de
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