This is the English version of the article. Background: To ensure midwifery care in times of Corona, digital midwifery services were enabled for the first time in Germany in March Objective: The aim of the survey was an initial evaluation of the newly introduced digital services from the perspective of the midwives and the mothers.
Methods: In February and March , a cross-sectional study with an online survey of midwives and mothers was conducted to record the scope of digital services provided, utilisation, level of satisfaction and potential of digital midwifery care in the pregnancy and postpartum care of women who gave birth between May and November Result: 1, mothers and 1, midwives provided feedback.
Half of the midwives surveyed offered digital services and wished to continue this care option. However, not all services were considered equally suitable for digital implementation. Mothers and midwives alike saw the advantages as being infection control, saving time and not needing to travel. Conclusion: The Covid pandemic has become a catalyst for digita li sation in midwifery care. Digital services were quickly implemented by midwives and well accepted by women and can usefully complement the in-person care provided by midwives.
The opportunity to utilise and further develop these service offers should be taken. Keywords: midwifery, digital service, digitalization, telemedicine, evaluation. Women are legally entitled to midwifery care during pregnancy and the postpartum period under the contract on the provision of midwifery services in Section a of Book V of the German Social Code SGB V [11].
Due to the Covid pandemic, additional special arrangements were made which made it possible, for the first time, to provide digital midwifery services. From March , freelance midwives in Germany were permitted to conduct initial consultations and provide advice on pregnancy complaints, conduct antenatal and postnatal courses and provide postpartum care digitally and charge for these services [10]. Unlike Germany, other countries already offered digital midwifery services before the pandemic and experiences with this type of service provision have been described [6] , [7] , [9].
