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A joint project

Team Initiative Midwifery Heritage

Eight nations from 4 continents, after national recognition of midwifery as an intangible cultural heritage, supported and submitted the international application to UNESCO.

Over great distances and despite travel restrictions due to the Corona pandemic, we collaborated intensively across several continents.

Many thanks to all!

The german team

Team Initiative Hebammenwesen-weltweit

In the picture (from left to right):
Lisa Welcland (DHV)
Susanne Steppat (DHV)
Justine Boguslawski (BfHD)
Deike Terruhn (HfD) and
Lisa von Reiche (HfD).

German Midwives Association (DHV)

"Children shall be born safely!" This is one of the central concerns of the German Midwives Association, the largest German midwives' association, with over 19,000 members. The emotional and physical health and well-being of mother and child has a decisive influence on a successful start as a new or extended family. How a society deals with pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period is everybody's business.

As a lobby group, the DHV aims to help shape a humane birth culture. We want to make a "normal birth" – without technical interventions, but with a lot of human attention –  possible for every woman. Because beginnings matter!

Contact:
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Association of Freelance Midwives Germany (BFHD)

The BfHD is a professional association for freelance midwives. It was founded in 1984 and today has about 1,000 members. It represents the interests of freelance midwives who practice natural and self-determined obstetrics. As the authoritative professional association, the BfHD is involved in all negotiations and decision-making processes that regulate the professional and economic situation of midwives in Germany. Based in Frankfurt am Main, the BfHD works nationwide.

We support women and families in making responsible and conscious decisions regarding  procedures involved in modern medical care. We demand comprehensive and transparent information on pre- and perinatal diagnostic measures and their consequences, as well as open societal debate about their selective use.

The BfHD attaches great importance to exchange with other midwifery associations and related professional groups, and as such is a member of networks at both the national and international level.

Contact:
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Midwives for Germany (HfD)

Midwives for Germany is an association of midwives, parents, doctors and many other committed individuals. We are united by one goal: to preserve individual obstetric care in Germany. To achieve this, we network closely with other initiatives on the culture of birth. Midwives for Germany is a non-profit association based in Cologne, andmembers of the board of directors perform their respective duties on a voluntary basis.

Although numerically a small professional group,  midwives do a crucially important job: their work ensures the success of no less than the start as a family - the "nucleus of society". A good start requires the trustworthy support of a birth professional. And to ensure this, space, time and money must be made available in our society.

Midwives for Germany brings together the many people involved in birth culture and health policy. We see ourselves as an interface between expectant parents and organized parents' associations; midwives and the medical profession; actors in health policy such as ministries and health insurance companies; and the two major midwives' associations.

Contact:
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Contact

Lisa von Reiche

+49 (0)177 757 25720
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We would like to thank you for your support of the project!