Amidst a shortage of midwife and a complex system, many families (and especially international ones) struggle to find a midwife to support them during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
In this article, we chat with Sabine Kroh, who is the founder and CEO of call a midwife. Sabine has also worked as a midwife for Doctors Without Borders and initiated the German Midwife Symposium.
Hi Sabine, thanks for taking the time to tell us more about your platform, call a midwife!
Would you tell us a little bit about your background? Why and when did you become a midwife and what do you most enjoy about your work?
I've been working as a midwife for 34 years now. Midwifery is always challenging and very diverse. Every day is different and you will learn more and more about different topics even after so many years. The moment when a baby is born is fascinating and indescribable. There are also very sad moments and as a midwife you will learn to understand and cope with that, too.
The gratitude of the families and a good team give me strength and energy to continue, even in such difficult times.
How and why did you come up with the idea for call a midwife?
Our society is becoming more and more international and global, especially here in Berlin. Many of these expats come to Germany and are lost in our other healthcare system of pregnancy care. On top of that there is a glaring shortage of midwives.
It is so important in the exciting time of pregnancy and with the baby to have a competent and medical trained companionship in the mother tongue and so I want to make sure that every family can have the support of a midwife.
So who is call a midwife for?
If a family can't find a midwife and doesn’t have their family nearby (which is more and more often the case), then call a midwife is a great option. Our team speaks 11 different languages and is growing.
But also women and families who live abroad and cannot find adequate support there, especially German expats, like to use our service very much and then simply take the German midwife with them.
How does call a midwife work?
We counsel women during pregnancy, preparation for birth and after birth with the baby, as well breastfeeding, sleeping, introduction of complementary feeding and many other topics. We do so via video chat, on the phone, by text message and by email in a personal and individual way.
Here’s how families can sign up:
Choose a midwife from our team
We then very quickly connect the woman and midwife
If the woman would like long term support, the midwife stays the same. Since we only support digitally, it is always a question of trust in these exciting times of pregnancy and with a newborn. The midwife and woman decide together, in which (digital) way, how often and how long the relationship will last.
Who pays for the services?
For all women who are insured in Germany, our services are free, because we settle the bills directly with the health insurance.
For women who do not have insurance, one week on-call with our midwife costs 99,99 €. If in this case a woman needs support for the longer term, we always find a solution.
How do you manage to attract qualified midwives to your platform when there is such a shortage of midwives in Germany?
Our motto is "from midwives for midwives" and we see ourselves as a community. All members of the team work as midwives and live across Germany or abroad. Each of them provides us with their availability according to their limits, because the accompaniment at home is of course their first priority.
Thus, we do not withdraw anyone from the already scarce availability of midwives. Since there are so many of us, and we are growing, we can cover all the requests and not increase the shortage.
In our team there are also pediatricians, gynecologists, psychologists and sleep consultants. Thus, we support each other and can provide very specific and competent advice.
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are very happy to guide all of you, if you couldn't find a midwife for home care, via call a midwife on your own terms and needs and of course with confidentiality.
You can learn more at www.call-a-midwife.com. If you have any questions email [email protected] or call 0049 151 722 00 722.
Thank you, Sabine!
