Statistics on outpatient midwifery services in Switzerland

Background: Since 2005, the Swiss Federation of Midwives has been conducting a national survey of the activities of midwives under their own professional responsibility. The data is also used to monitor outpatient midwifery care. The aim was to present the main results of the 2023 survey Methods: This ongoing, annually repeated, longitudinal study is based on electronically recorded outpatient midwifery services in Switzerland. In 2023, the dataset included a total of 704’939 services transmitted by fivesoftware providers. Data was analyseddescriptively using Stata 17. Results: In 2023, midwives cared for 85’909 women, n=28’144 (32.8%) during pregnancy, n=5’458 (6.4%) during labour, and n=78’031 (90.8%) in the postpartum period. A total of 983 women (18.0%) gave birth at home, 1’731 (31.7%) in a birthing centre and 241 (4.4%) in a birthing centre with an attending midwife. Additionally, 1’879 births (34.4%) took place in a hospital with an attending midwife, and 50 women (0.9%) were cared for prior to a planned hospital birth (e.g., early labour support). In 557 cases (10.2%), a transfer occurred. In 17 cases (0.3%), the birthplace birth was unknown. Midwives provided a total of 621’696 postpartum visits, averaging 8.0 visits per woman. The timing of the first postpartum visit was most frequently between one and four days after birth, increasing again after the Covid-19 period. Conclusion: These findings offer a comprehensive overview of outpatient midwifery services in Switzerland and their ongoing development. Special thanks go to the midwives, whose dedication ensures the availability of this important data.