Could Maternity Wards With Fewer Than 600 Births a Year Be Shut Down? Czech Health Ministry Responds

Czechia currently has around ninety maternity wards, and last year just 77,600 babies were born nationwide — the lowest figure since statistical records began, according to the Czech Statistical Office. Against the backdrop of a falling birth rate, a debate has emerged over whether maternity wards handling fewer than 600 births a year should be closed.

Ivan Duškov, Director General of the General Health Insurance Company (VZP), told Deník.cz that the number of deliveries cannot be the sole criterion. “Accessibility of care matters just as much,” he stressed, adding that if a maternity ward delivers 599 babies a year but the nearest alternative facility is two and a half hours away, it simply cannot be shut down.

The Health Ministry’s press office has dismissed rumours of an impending mass closure of smaller maternity wards. “We are not preparing any blanket measures that would allow only maternity wards with a certain minimum number of births to operate,” said ministry spokesperson Renata Povolná.

According to her, the threshold of roughly 600 births a year is used in professional discussions merely as a rough benchmark and is not enshrined in any law or binding ministry decision. Assessing how a maternity ward performs involves several factors at once: the safety and quality of medical care, staffing and technical equipment, accessibility of care for expectant mothers in the region, coordination of related medical services, and the long-term sustainability of the department’s operations.

The ministry emphasised that it holds no list of maternity wards slated for closure and does not make such decisions — that responsibility lies with the founders or owners of healthcare facilities, as well as insurance companies. The ministry continuously monitors the situation using data from the Czech Institute of Health Information and Statistics and is ready to discuss possible changes with founders, insurers and other stakeholders.

Marian Kacerovský, chairman of the Czech Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, explained where the figure of 600 comes from: it is one of the ministry’s accreditation criteria for specialised training in gynaecology and obstetrics, alongside a requirement of at least 100 hysterectomies a year. “These are not economic indicators — they are meant to ensure sufficient practical volume to maintain the skills of medical teams and provide quality training for future specialists,” he noted.

According to Kacerovský, staffing stability also plays a key role: if a department loses its accreditation for training specialists, it becomes considerably harder to attract and train young doctors, which could seriously undermine staffing stability in the long run.

Duškov, for his part, noted that for certain procedures — joint replacement surgery, for example — the rule “more practice means higher quality” genuinely applies. “But I don’t see it as so clear-cut when it comes to childbirth. If a ward has qualified staff and provides quality care, the sheer number of deliveries isn’t so critical — other quality indicators matter far more,” the VZP chief concluded.

Source: denik.cz