The Professional Union of Belgian Midwives (l'Union professionnelle des sages-femmes belges, UPSFB) will not be signing the convention setting midwives' fees and will be denouncing it, UPSFB President Murielle Conradt, told Belga News Agency on Tuesday.
"Enough is enough! The sector is dying," she said, adding that last year the midwives "were already ignored" in the healthcare budget, and the union did not sign the INAMI convention.
The INAMI (National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance) convention sets the rates, conditions and other regulations governing various branches of the medical profession.
A midwife who has signed the agreement must comply with the set rates, and her patients are entitled to full reimbursement of her services. Otherwise, the midwife can set the price she considers fair, but her patient will only be entitled to a 75% reimbursement.
"Not signing on to the agreement means making the patient pay, which is not at all how we operate, but now we cannot do it any more,’ said Ms. Conradt. ‘We have to be able to eat and support our families!"
‘It's a shame, because we are heading towards two-tiered medicine, but we have no choice. The government is leaving us no choice," the UPSFB president said, adding that “many midwives stop working, no longer want to work, because they can no longer make a living from it."
On behalf of all midwives, whether independent or hospital-based, the association is calling for the profession to be upgraded. "It's not just a question of figures," Ms. Conradt explained.
The UPSFB is also calling on its members to participate in the national demonstration by the non-profit sector, set for 7 November.
Meanwhile, the Flemish Professional Midwives' Union (Vlaamse Beroepsorganisatie van Vroedvrouwen, VBOV) is also thinking of calling on its members not to sign the INAMI convention. The issue is to be put to the vote at its next general meeting, on 26 October.
