They want limits on midwifery training. "Let's not create unemployed workers."
- 28% of midwives in the Silesian Voivodeship did not attend any births in 2024
- A year earlier, out of 110 midwifery graduates in the region, 85 applied for a license to practice the profession, and only 15 reported taking up employment
- - Financing the education of future midwives should correspond to the real needs of the healthcare system - says the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, demanding the introduction of limits in the education of midwives
The Presidium of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives issued a statement regarding the introduction of admission limits for midwifery studies. The statement highlighted the systematic decline in the number of births that has persisted in Poland for years and the fact that the number of midwifery graduates regularly exceeds demand in the labor market.
- The consequence of the above situation is the untapped potential of graduates, leading to professional frustration, migration to other professions or countries, and the waste of public funds - explains the self-government of nurses and midwives.
In the opinion of the National Council of Nurses and Midwives, financing the education of future midwives should correspond to the real needs of the health care system.
- Training a number of midwives adequate to the actual demographic and epidemiological needs will help avoid unemployment among graduates of this field - the position paper emphasizes.
The problem of the falling number of births, which is causing the closure of subsequent maternity wards, was highlighted in 2023 by the vice-president of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives , Anna Janik .
"The problem we're about to face is the overabundance of midwives. Let's not create unemployed midwives ," she urged in an interview with Rynek Zdrowia.
She calculated that in 2023, out of 110 graduates of midwifery in Silesia, 85 applied to the Chamber for a license to practice the profession, and only 15 reported taking up employment (Janik is also the chairwoman of the District Council of Nurses and Midwives in Katowice - ed.).
Rynek Zdrowia then reached out to one of the graduates from that year. She worked in a store in a shopping mall in Katowice. Of the five friends she was still in touch with at the time, one took a job – in the private sector. Today, our interviewee from that time is working in her profession, also in the private sector.
This publication caused an uproar among nurses and midwives, as Vice President Janik proposed changes to training.
"I know my fellow midwives will hold this against me, but I believe we've matured to the point where we can offer a single-stage education . And if someone wants to become a midwife later, they need 18 months of specialized training in this field," explained Vice President Janik.
Negative comments flooded social media, and the National Association of Family Midwives requested a "vote of no confidence in the vice president of the National Family Midwives and Public Health Service." The local government organized a debate on the future of the midwifery profession.
"I would like to put an end to all speculation. We have not taken, and will not take, any action to change the undergraduate education of midwives," emphasized Mariola Łodzińska , president of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, toning down the outrage over potential changes in education.
As a reminder, last year teams were established in Silesia to develop hospital transformation plans and map local needs. Their formation was a result of the hospital reform announced by the Ministry of Health in July 2024.
As Marta Nowacka , president of the Association of District Hospitals of the Silesian Voivodeship, mentioned during the Health Challenges Congress in Katowice, one of the topics of the teams' meetings was maternity wards.
"It turned out that 28% of midwives in the Silesian Voivodeship who work in labor wards did not attend any births last year . On average, a midwife attends two births a month. This is not safe," said Marta Nowacka.
"With such a significant demographic decline, we began to wonder whether maternity wards with fewer than 400 deliveries were safe. Would we want to go to a surgeon who operates on two patients a month?" wondered the head of the Municipal Hospital in Siemianowice Śląskie.
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