Hungarian Midwife Ágnes Geréb Receives 2 Years in Prison

by Réka Morvay on February 10, 2023

The Budapest Court of Appeals announced its sentence for Dr. Ágnes Geréb, an obstetrician and home birth midwife. The court of appeals not only upheld the lower court’s decision, but added to the severity of the sentence. Dr. Geréb is to serve two years in prison, not eligible for parole. The court also banned Dr. Geréb from practicing her profession either as an obstetrician or as a midwife for 10 years. Furthermore, the appeals court obligated Dr. Geréb to pay the legal fees associated with her criminal case, which amount to more than HUF 1.5 million (EUR 5000).

Who is Dr. Ágnes Geréb?

Dr. Geréb is an obstetrician with more than 17 years of experience before she started attending home births. She has delivered more than 3000 babies. She was a pioneer on the Hungarian birth scene, being the first doctor to allow husbands and partners in the delivery room with their laboring wives. She was the first obstetrician to attend home births in Hungary, and has faced a significant amount of harassment as a result of her choice to attend births at home. She was banned from practicing medicine once before, which is when she completed midwifery training (with decades of practice as an obstetrician under her belt) and started attending births as a midwife.

What are these criminal cases against Dr. Geréb?

Dr. Geréb is facing criminal charges in 4 separate cases. Two involve post-partum hemorrhages, one a twin birth at home after which one of the babies was born in an oxygen-deprived condition and subsequently died less than a year old, and one case of shoulder dystocia in which the baby died.

Dr. Geréb was taken into custody when the ambulance had to be called to a birth at her birth center in 2010, and the police arrived shortly on the heels of the ambulance. Dr. Geréb was first put in jail, but the international outcry due to the inhumane treatment she received prompted her release into house arrest, where she has been for more than a year.

Why are people upset about Dr. Geréb’s sentence?

The people of Hungary and the home birth community feel that the criminal cases against Dr. Geréb are nothing short of a witch hunt. The treatment she received while she was in prison prompted visits from Hungarian parliamentary representatives and an international human rights outcry. Evidence supporting the maneuvers and techniquest Dr. Geréb used was submitted by foreign experts, but this evidence was not allowed to be presented at her appeals hearing. Then the reasoning in her sentence offerey by the appeals court claims she used techniques and maneuvers that are not described in the medical literature at all. Furthermore, Dr. Geréb received a criminal sentence for actions and events that other practitioners would have faced a professional board for, not a criminal court, so there exists a serious double standard when evaluating her conduct as a doctor. Because of these and other reasons, many feel that the trial against her was meant to provide an example to frighten other home birth midwives in Hungary from attending home births.

Are home births in Hungary illegal?

Actually, they are not. Hungarian women have the right to choose their place of birth, it’s just that before 2011, Hungarian law did not provide any regulations for those who wished to attend a woman’s birth at home. The home birth midwives in Hungary used this legal gap to attend home births, but they were often harrassed by hospital staff when they needed to transfer a laboring woman to a hospital.

In 2011, due to the international outcry regarding Dr. Geréb’s arrest and the absurdity of the legal situation in Hungary, the government passed new regulations that were meant to provide guidelines and licensing for home birth practitioners, so getting help from a professional lawyers, browse this site for finding more about this. Although the regulations came into effect April 1, 2011, not a single person has actually received a license from the Hungarian authorities to attend home births.

This is horrible! What can I do?

You can spread the word. You can contact your Hungarian embassy to let them know you disapprove. You can support Dr. Geréb through a donation. Contact Dr. Geréb’s supporters at www.freegereb.org to offer your assistance. You will find information in English, as well as donation information. Please spread the word about the witch hunt against home birth midwives in Hungary. Click here to read how you can help the remaining home birth midwives in Hungary.

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Réka Morvay is a psychologist, doula, childbirth educator, lactation consultant and student midwife living and working in Budapest, Hungary. She maintains a website about birth topics at http://www.budapest-doula.com and you can read about her professional services at http://www.rekamorvay.com/.
She is also the founder of the Budapest Moms community. In addition to being a birth junkie, she also likes tinkering with websites and watching Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

{ 11 comments }

Claudia February 10, 2023 at 5:10 pm

I’m shocked devastated and so upset. What a sick twist. I will tell everyone I know. Let me know if there is anything you need.

b February 10, 2023 at 7:07 pm

Hungary, with so many intelligent people living there, is a sick society, one that I believe it not sustainable. This ruling is obscene in these times. The law is in place so MDs can keep births in the Hospitals where they can control the flow of “gratuity money” moving in the right direction…. sick, sad, disappointing.

Jytte Aa. Moeller February 12, 2023 at 12:01 am

I’ve been a midwife for 50 years. I think it’s important for the baby’s health and the whole delievery-situation that the mother feel safe. Mothers that feel most safe in their own home should have their baby there, and they ought to have the right to have a nice and clever midwife from A to Z.

midwifelynda February 13, 2023 at 1:58 am

There are midwives in Hungary going through the process of obtaining home birth license. A dear friend has been approved; she just has so many hoops through which she must jump. Please include Mrs F in your prayers that she receive her license soon and then serve women in Hungary!

Réka Morvay February 13, 2023 at 8:02 am

Hi Lynda,

Thanks for your comment. There is another article about the 3 midwives, including our friend F., currently in the process of getting their license in Hungary. You can see it here: https://www.budapest-moms.com/2012/02/home-birth-in-hungary-update-2012/ They have been working on getting their license since last year, and right now, my understanding is that their license is pending their ability to pay for the outrageously high liability insurance. For this reason, we have a donation drive at the bottom of the article that I’ve linked, and anybody who would like to help home birth midwifery actually HAPPEN in Hungary can donate what they can! I’m also planning another article that introduces the 3 midwives personally and tells their story, but they asked me out of respect for Dr. Geréb and the announcement of her verdict, not to publish that article at the same time.

ineke February 13, 2023 at 6:22 pm

Sad to hear how misfortunate births are used for this witch hunt.
The Hungarian could have a close look at the system in the Netherlands, where healthy women with a healthy pregnancy can choose to give birth at home. Conta-indications are: twin pregnancies, mothers with a heart condition, kidney disease, diabetes or any condition that could endanger the birth process or the woman’s or baby’s health, or a placenta that’s in the way. This is closely looked at by the medical profession. Infant death rates are low in the Netherlands; there is a strongh will from all the involved professionals to further lower this figure.

Réka Morvay February 14, 2023 at 5:17 am

Hi Ineke,

Hungary could look at many systems that work well, including our neighbor Austria for heaven’s sake!

I’m not entirely sure why the average Hungarian is filled with horror at the idea of a home birth, but I think that the decades of having respect for the “authority” beaten into people’s minds probably has something to do with it. Hungarians have accepted and are now taking it for granted that a hospital is the only safe and acceptable place to have a baby, and anybody who deviates from that is clearly crazy in their eyes. Even though the Hungarian health care system is crumbling, even though hospitals are going bankrupt, even though even successful and popular maternity wards are losing money and are looking decrepit, even though at-home midwifery care would make financial sense.

Joy Alba February 18, 2023 at 12:57 am

I’m a Texan of Hungarian decent, about to experience her second home birth. I’m ashamed that the country I think so fondly of would deny other women the joys that I have experienced. Shame on Hungry.

Kelly February 18, 2023 at 2:45 am

This is such a sadness and a shame. Ágnes is in our thoughts and prayers.

Yen February 18, 2023 at 3:33 pm

It is upsetting to know what have happen. Often when things go wrong, people tend to blame others rather than take responsibility. It is easier for us as a Childbirth Educator or doula to advocate natural birth or even home birth as the safest options but the load is on the obstetrician. Hopefully she will be released soon. Will pray for her.

Raluca Jacono May 16, 2023 at 12:52 pm

I have given birth to all my children at home- on my responsibility and on my risks and helped by the best midwife on this earth.

As if we would have a right to live - it is a gift and sometimes it is taken us away - I have lost 5 babies at different stages of development and still I am grateful and do not feel like blaming anybody for this, not even God… Agnes was helping life flower but she is not a miracle maker.

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  • How YOU can help Agnes Gereb
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  • Hungarian Midwife Ágnes Geréb Receives 2 Years in Prison | Születésház

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