Midwife network Lörrach celebrates 10 years of successful help for families!

Midwife network Lörrach celebrates 10 years of successful help for families!

On November 9, 2025, the Lörrach midwife network celebrated an important anniversary in the Kirche im Quadrat: ten years of dedicated work for expectant parents and young families. Founded in 2015, the network has now expanded to around 40 members. Although two colleagues have retired, valuable reinforcements have been gained with two new midwives. The theme of the celebration was: “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, working together is success.” This leitmotif is not just a nice saying, but also reflects the daily efforts of midwives.

The importance of personal exchange and further training became particularly clear during the Corona pandemic. This experience meant that the ten-year celebration also served as a platform to exchange ideas with network partners, charities, the maternity clinic and the district office. Gerhard Rasch, head of the youth and family department, brought the district administrator's greetings and praised the committed community of midwives. Michael Bohlmann, chief physician for gynecology and obstetrics, expressed concerns about the increasingly difficult search for midwives that pregnant women face.

Importance of midwifery help

Claudia Voitl, one of the few family midwives in the district, specializes in supporting expectant parents and families with small children up to three years old. She criticized the lack of lobbying for midwives and wanted more support from the older generation. A currently hotly debated topic is the new midwife assistance contract, which has been in force since August 1, 2007 and was concluded between the midwife associations and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds. This contract regulates the requirements for freelance midwives to provide services and their billing to health insurance companies. Joining the midwifery assistance contract is a prerequisite for billing, which brings with it both opportunities and challenges.

At a time when public health and the quality of obstetric care are becoming increasingly important, the insurance surcharge shows that we are responding to the increasing costs of professional liability insurance. Annika Lohse, the second chairwoman of the network, proudly reports that she supervised six home births within a month and therefore enjoys a high level of trust in her work. At the same time, the new regulations also entail disadvantages for attending midwives who work in clinics.

The Lörrach midwife network symbolizes the need for midwives to be strongly represented by their associations and for the challenges of the future to be tackled together. When asked how the position of midwives can be strengthened in everyday life, the answer is clear: through more support, appreciation and a strong community.

The need for change and collaboration runs like a common thread through all the conversations and exchange reports at the anniversary celebration. Midwives are in demand in a society that continues to place a high value on safety and health during childbirth.

Those interested can also find further information about the requirements and regulations in the midwifery assistance contract, which is explained in detail on the website of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds. It is also easily possible to search for freelance midwives in the area online, which is a relief for many expectant parents gkv-spitzenverband.de.