What’s a Premature Baby Worth?

HOW HOSPITALS IN GERMANY MAKE THEIR PROFITS

From a medical point of view doctors should do everything they can to avoid premature births. But prolonged pregnancies, which are often complicated, earn the hospital hardly anything. Premature babies, on the other hand, are highly lucrative patients. The sooner they come into the world, the more money the hospital gets from the health insurer. It’s often more than 100,000 euros – per child. Are children deliberately being brought into the world early because it fills empty coffers? That’s the question this documentary by Claudia Ruby investigates, while giving voice to doctors and nurses who are in despair.

TEAM

Written and directed by Claudia Ruby // Producer: Meike Hemschemeier // Camera: Michael Kern, Sven Kiesche // Sound: Christoph Dziallas, Ole Schmidt // Editor: Jan Stefan Kolbe // Graphics: Scope VFX // Music: Sebastian Haßler // Sound mix: Alexander Weuffen // Narrator: Simon Roden // Production assistant: Annemarie Zertisch // Production manager: Katja Sträter // Executive producer: Thomas Weidenbach // Commissioning editors: Britta Windhoff, Sophie Schulenburg // Produced by Längengrad Filmproduktion for WDR