The official Health Ministry standard for midwives in obstetric wards has not been updated since 1985 and does not correspond at all to reality in 2023, the 1,400-member Israel Midwives’ Association said on Sunday. There are still hospitals where each midwife takes care of three or four birthing women at the same time.
Fortunately, there are hospitals that have understood that a midwife must not care for more than two births at the same time and we recommend women choose these hospitals, the association said. “We recommend that women choose the hospital where they plan to give birth according to the number of births treated by each midwife. ‘A midwife for every birth is not a slogan; this is the safe way for a good birth experience.”
“We recommend that women choose the hospital where they plan to give birth according to the number of births treated by each midwife. ‘A midwife for every birth is not a slogan; this is the safe way for a good birth experience.”
Israel Midwives’ Association
The association was commenting on new data from the ministry on where the most births occur among all the general hospitals in Israel. A total of 921,987 babies were born in Israel in the years 2017 to 2021. Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center (SZMC, including its Bikur Cholim branch) was way ahead with 110,018 births; followed by 85,350 at Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba; 61,787 at Tel Aviv Sourasky; 55,870 in Ma’ayanei Hayeshua in Bnei Brak; 54,441 at Sheba at Tel Hashomer; 43,389 in Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) in Tzrifin; 40,113 in Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem; 38,744 at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva; and 36,438 at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Sava.
Following the data, the association said that “the increase in the number of births is felt in all delivery rooms in Israel and we are happy and excited to be there for every woman, to accompany and support her for an empowering and good birth. Along with upgrading the physical conditions in the delivery rooms and maternity wards, it is of great importance to improve the care that every mother receives during childbirth.”
Why are midwives helpful?
Scientific studies have proven that a close and supportive midwifery team can reduce the need for interventions in childbirth and reduce the necessity of cesarean section and instrumental deliveries, they continued.
A midwife who is by the mother’s side during the birth, gives her a sense of security in her abilities and her body and treats her professionally and continuously is infinitely more valuable than all the other pampering facilities such as facilities and equipment that the hospital can provide, the association added.
Midwives are professional women with a certified midwife’s license, given to them by the Health Ministry after six years of training following four years of nursing studies for a certified nurse degree and about two more years for a specialty position in the field of pregnancy and childbirth.