Reference ResourceYourHebamme
10 min read · Last updated September 2026 · Written and reviewed by Emma, Birth & Mother
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Looking for a midwife now?
Start as early as you can, ideally the week of your positive test. Midwives book up fast across Germany, and faster in cities like Berlin and Potsdam. Ammely, the national directory, lets you search by postcode, and it is in German. The steps below take it from there, including what to do if nobody has space.
01
What is a Hebamme?
A Hebammeis a qualified midwife. Since 2020 the training is a Bachelor's degree with long clinical placements. In Germany a midwife can do all of your routine prenatal check-ups except the ultrasound scans and certain fine diagnostic tests, which your gynaecologist does. So how you split your prenatal care is your choice.
German law puts midwives at the centre of birth: a doctor may not conduct a birth without calling a midwife in. That is a duty on the doctor, not a rule about you, and it is a large part of why birth here works differently from many other countries. In practice it means that wherever you give birth with professional care, a midwife is there, whether or not you have met them beforehand, and a doctor comes in only if one is needed. A midwife also comes to your home in the weeks after the birth, looking after you as well as the baby, though that is usually a different midwife again. Which one does which is what the next part is about.
At a glance
A qualified midwife, trained to degree level
Yours by right, and a birth attended by a doctor has to have one
Available to you through pregnancy, birth, and the weeks after (Wochenbett), though not always the same midwife for all three
Paid for by your insurance, so there is no bill at the end
02
The types of Hebamme
“Hebamme” covers several different jobs. Which one you end up with depends on where you plan to give birth, and on whether you want the same midwife throughout. These descriptions come from working alongside midwives and the families I support. Practice and region vary, so your own midwife is the person to confirm what their work involves.
03
What care is covered
Duringpregnancy
All of your routine antenatal check-ups, if you want. A midwife can do everything except the ultrasound scans and certain fine diagnostic tests, which your gynaecologist does
Blood pressure, urine, and fundal height checks, all written into your Mutterpass
Listening to the baby's heartbeat
Birth preparation classes (Geburtsvorbereitungskurs), usually in groups
Questions about nutrition, movement, and the usual complaints of pregnancy
During labourand birth
Clinical monitoring of you and the baby
Assessing how labour is progressing: dilation, contractions, position
Delivering the baby, or assisting the doctor who does
The first newborn checks, and help with the first feed
In the postpartum(Wochenbett)
Daily home visits for the first 10 days
Up to 16 more visits through the first 12 weeks
Help with feeding and weaning after that, on the terms your health insurance sets
These counts come from the GKV-Spitzenverband Hebammenvergütungsvereinbarung, checked in April 2026. Terms change, and feeding support in particular is counted differently by different insurers, so ask yours what you are entitled to, in writing.
What those visits are actually like, what your midwife does and does not cover, and how to build support around them is in Your midwife in this window.
04
What your health insurance pays for
On statutory health insurance, midwifery care is fully covered. You do not pay your midwife. They bill your insurer.
There is one fee worth knowing about, because it is specific to midwives. Some hospital-contracted and continuity-of-care midwives charge an on-call fee (Rufbereitschaftspauschale), usually between €250 and €800. Not every insurer covers it, though more of them now pay part. Ask your midwife what they charge and your insurer what they pay.
Statutory against private cover, and what is paid for across the rest of maternity care, is in What your insurance covers.
05
How to find a midwife
Start as early as you can. Midwives book up fast across Germany, and in cities like Berlin and Potsdam many are full within days of a positive test. The steps, in order:
- 01
Confirm your pregnancy and request your Mutterpass
You receive the Mutterpass at your first confirmed pregnancy appointment, usually from the gynaecologist, though a midwife can issue it too. Bring it to every midwife contact from then on.
- 02
Search the directories
Use the national directories first, Ammely and Hebammensuche (hebammenverband.de). Many regions also keep a local list, like the Hebammenliste Berlin. Filter by postcode and by the type of care you want (prenatal, birth, postpartum).
- 03
Contact many, expect few replies
Write to a lot of them. In most areas midwives are booked months ahead, so silence is about capacity and not about you. A short, friendly message in German, or in English with one line of German at the top, tends to do better.
- 04
Ask your gynaecologist and your health insurance
Both can recommend midwives with availability. Some health insurers operate their own midwife matching service (Hebammenvermittlung).
- 05
Register with your chosen hospital early
If you plan a hospital birth, the registration appointment (Anmeldegespräch) happens around weeks 30 to 34. The hospital may also have hospital-contracted midwives you can contact.
- 06
Keep a record
Keep a note of who you have contacted, when, and what they said. It saves you writing to the same person twice, and you will need it if you go to your health insurance for help.
06
Questions to ask at first contact
Once you find a midwife who may have room, a short conversation helps you both work out whether it fits.
What kind of care do you offer: prenatal, birth, postpartum, or all three?
Do you have room around my due date?
How many other women will you be looking after at that time?
Which hospitals do you work with, or do you attend home births?
Do you speak any English, and how do you feel about working with an interpreter or a doula?
How do I reach you outside appointment times?
Is there an on-call fee, and how much is it?
What does your postpartum care look like: how many visits, and over how long?
07
What to do if you can't find one
The midwife shortage in Germany is real. If you have worked through the directories and still have nobody, you have options and you have rights.
Contact yourhealth insurance
Several health insurers (TK, AOK, Barmer and DAK among others) run a midwife matching service. They cannot promise you a midwife, but they can sometimes find one who has just had a cancellation. Ask in writing, so there is a record of it.
Find your regionalHebammenzentrale
Many regions run a Hebammenzentrale or Hebammenvermittlung, a coordinated midwife matching service with a central waiting list that prioritises by due date. In Berlin, for instance, there is the Berliner Hebammenvermittlung, and Brandenburg midwives can be searched through the Hebammenverband Brandenburg. Search for the one that serves your city.
Build the rest of yoursupport team
A doula cannot do the clinical checks a midwife does. What a doula can do is stay with you, help you prepare for appointments, and point you to lactation consultants and paediatricians for the parts that need a clinician.
Know yourlegal entitlement
Statutory health insurance entitles you to midwifery care. If you have genuinely tried and found nobody, keep the record of it. That is what any case for alternative cover rests on, for example a privately arranged midwife.
08
Your rights
If you are insured in Germany you have a legal right to midwifery care in pregnancy, birth and the weeks after (§24d, §24f SGB V, checked April 2026). You do not need a doctor's referral to see a midwife.
You choose your midwife. You can say no to one who is not a good fit, and you can change midwives during pregnancy.
You have the right to informed consent for every clinical decision. Your midwife should tell you what they are doing, why, and what else you could do instead, in a language you understand. If they cannot, you can ask for an interpreter.
09
Key German Vocabulary
Every German word you will meet, searchable, in the Glossary.
Personal support
If you would like company through this
Midwife care is covered by your health insurance and it starts in pregnancy, so finding one early makes a real difference. If you would like help in English with the search, with preparing for a first appointment, or with working out what midwife care does and does not include, get in touch.
Your journey through the guides
- The System
- Your Hebammeyou are here
- Step by Step
- Where to Birth
- In Labour
- Birth Changes Course
- The Wochenbett
- The First Year
Go deeper
Further reading
Two pieces in the Journal that go further than this page can: