Overview
- The Alexianer St. Josefs‑Krankenhaus announced this week that it will close its birth unit around 1 August as part of a regional hospital reform and withdraw from women’s health and obstetrics.
- The hospital has already taken its Babyklappe out of operation, removing Brandenburg’s only baby hatch that had been in place since 2003.
- The Brandenburg Health Ministry says the closure is acceptable because the baby hatch saw little recent use and it points to anonymous births, nearby Berlin facilities, and a new Babylotsinnen counseling program starting 1 September as alternatives.
- Klinikum Ernst von Bergmann says it will absorb care for pregnant women and is preparing staff for the transfer, and Potsdam mayor Noosha Aubel has begun talks to relocate the baby hatch to the Bergmann clinic.
- The decision has prompted public protest and a petition with roughly 15,900 signatures, and it has revived questions about local access to maternity care after more than 10,000 births took place at St. Josefs since 1997 and the baby hatch recorded 12 uses through 2023.