Overview
- The Saint-Amand-Montrond council approved €1,000 in vouchers for mothers who deliver at the local unit starting January 1, 2026.
- The incentive is co-funded by the municipality and the community of communes (€500 each) and must be spent with roughly 150 participating local merchants.
- Eligibility requires prenatal follow-up at the public maternity, and the mayor says complex cases will continue to be referred to larger hospitals.
- Four medical unions representing anesthesiologists, obstetricians, pediatricians and emergency doctors condemned the plan, arguing financial rewards should not influence where women give birth and warning of safety risks.
- The move comes as France records falling births and fewer maternity wards, with a lower-house moratorium on closures still awaiting Senate review.