“We want to convince future mothers from neighboring departments to come and give birth with us,” defends the mayor.
Being paid to give birth in one hospital rather than another? An idea that seems preposterous and yet. It’s the one the mayor of a French town had to save his maternity ward. Faced with a significant drop in the number of deliveries, the establishment is threatened with closure. With only 200 births expected in 2025, it does not meet the legal criteria to maintain its obstetric activity.
An exemption was granted by the Regional Health Agency, allowing the maternity ward to remain open until 2028. But for this, the mayor must “pass the 300 birth mark” as he explained to the Medscape site. He thus had the idea of offering 1000 euros in vouchers to each woman who gives birth in his maternity ward, rather than in those in neighboring towns. This gesture is financed by the town hall and the community of communes.
The maternity hospital threatened with closure is located in Saint-Amand-Montrond, in Cher. Pregnant women are invited to give birth there rather than in the maternity wards of Montluçon and Châteauroux. “We want to convince future mothers from neighboring departments to come and give birth with us, by simply adding a few kilometers to their journey,” defends the mayor of the commune Emmanuel Riotte. An initiative that does not go down well with health professionals in the surrounding area.
“The choice of maternity should not be influenced by the prospect of financial reward” wrote the medical unions in a joint press release. “This principle seems totally amoral to us, aiming to make a certain population – precarious, less well informed – prefer an economic solution to a security solution.” For them, “a maternity ward, when it is threatened with closure, is not for economic reasons but for security reasons”. A maternity ward with so few deliveries would not guarantee the care of urgent complications that may arise during childbirth, while other maternity wards, better equipped and closer, exist in the region.
The mayor is firmly convinced of the need for his initiative to “save maternity and revitalize businesses”. The 1000 euros, allocated for deliveries from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026, are intended to be spent in surrounding businesses and therefore presented as a lever to support both the establishment and local businesses. The survival of this hospital is a priority, and he intends to fight until 2028 to prevent its closure.
