The Ministry of Health has submitted for consultation a Draft Regulation of the Minister of Health amending the Regulation on guaranteed services in the field of hospital treatment. The aim of the draft is to provide pregnant women with access to professional care in counties where obstetrics-gynecology wards have been closed. The new regulations are intended to allow midwives to provide key services in emergency rooms and EDs more than 25 km from the nearest delivery room.
Closing of delivery rooms: Midwives will take over some of the responsibilities of maternity hospitals
Published Oct. 31, 2025 08:05
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The draft regulation of the Minister of Health amending the regulations on guaranteed services in the field of hospital treatment is a response to the growing problem of limited access to perinatal care in Poland. The phenomenon of maternity wards being closed - resulting, among other things, from a declining number of births and staffing difficulties - means that some pregnant women have to travel as far as several dozen kilometers to receive care.
The amendment to the regulation, based on the statutory authorization in Article 31d of the Law on publicly funded health care services, involves the introduction of a new benefit: "Care of a pregnant woman or a woman in labor carried out by a midwife." This benefit will be able to be provided in emergency rooms (IP) and hospital emergency departments (ED) located more than 25 km from the nearest hospital with an obstetrics-gynecology department.
What will the new benefit cover?
Midwives working in the IP or ED will be able to perform an expanded role, providing pregnant and birthing women with professional, continuous care. The service is to include, among other things:
- Assessment of the clinical condition of the pregnant or parturient woman,
- Identification of risk factors and early detection of pathology in pregnancy, labor or postpartum,
- Providing recommendations on treatment, lifestyle, nutrition and care,
- Providing care during labor or postpartum,
- Support over the newborn immediately after birth.
If the need for hospitalization in an obstetrics-gynecology or neonatology unit is identified, the woman or newborn will be referred to the appropriate facility. The draft also stipulates the obligation to provide adequate medical transportation.
Medical transport under new rules
One of the key elements of the proposed changes is the provider's obligation to provide a means of transportation adapted to the needs of pregnant women, women in labor and postpartum women, and newborns. Transportation will be provided by a team of three medical professionals, including:
- midwife,
- two paramedics.
The team organized in this way is supposed to guarantee safety while transporting the patient or newborn to the right hospital.
Source: RCL
