Greece: “Giving Birth is Not a Privilege of the Rich!” · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.
Feelings of revulsion and anger were caused by news published in Eleftherotypia (Freedom of Press) [el] newspaper on December 5, 2011, which revealed some public hospitals in Greece have refused treatment to women in labour, because they did not have the money to pay hospital fees of 950 euro.
The incidents took place in November 2011, at public hospitals in Athens, Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Rethymnon. In these cases the cost of “integrated unified hospital treatment” according to Ministry of Health price list, came in at 950 euro for natural childbirth and 1,500 euro for birth by Caesarean section. Pregnant women pay the money in advance and afterwards the costs are offset with the labour allowance.
Birth. Photograph by Flickr user riqfy (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
After several days delay, the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity intervened with a circular, stating that [el] no advance payment of this amount will be required in future, leaving however the issue of price difference between the official price list and the provided labour allowance still open to question.
Two women's rights organizations, the ‘Women's Initiative Against Debt and Austerity Measures’ and the ‘Independent Women's Movement’, have started to raise awareness of these incidents:
Giving birth is not a privilege of the rich! We demand free childbirth,  we demand that the bailout funds go directly to health sector…
The news was shared and commented on throughout various social media channels by Greek netizens.
Births in Greece appear to have decreased by 15% during the last year [el], as the harsh economic situation is forcing many couples to delay having their first or second child.
This post is part of our special coverage Europe in Crisis.