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Minister backs midwives' pay rise

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Minister backs midwives' pay rise
Photo: DPA

German midwives are calling for a 30 percent increase in wages in light of rising insurance premiums, and have won the backing of Family Minister Kristina Schröder.

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“I take the concerns of midwives very seriously,” Schröder, of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), told the Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper.

Schröder says the midwives make an “essential contribution” to a baby’s start in life, not just by assisting with the birth, but also by helping the mother during pregnancy, during the post-partum period, and with breastfeeding.

The family minister, who gave birth to her first child last year, is increasing pressure on insurance companies, and calling for them to find a good solution for the “lasting protection of midwifery, which is also in the interest of women, children and families.”

Die Welt newspaper reported that according to the Health Ministry, midwives in Germany currently pay an annual premium of €3,700 for liability insurance, and an increase of 15 percent is expected to take place in July.

Other government officials have spoken out recently in favour of the midwives. Health Minister Daniel Bahr of the Free Democrats (FDP) said: “I don’t want midwives to have to quit their work because of rising insurance premiums.”

DAPD/The Local/mbw

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