The initiative from January 1 comes as birth rates dwindle nationwide, and countryside hospitals increasingly close their maternity units. The labour ward in Saint-Amand-Montrond in central France is among around 20 in the country that does not meet the legally required 300 births a year to stay open. Management projects just 226 births at the ward by the end of the year.

Councillors late Thursday approved the plan to offer future mothers vouchers worth 1,000 euros ($1,160) to spend at local businesses if they agreed to bring their child into the world in the town, instead of travelling to a bigger hospital. "We're not paying women to have babies, we're giving money to women who are already pregnant and decide to give birth in Saint-Armand," right-wing mayor Emmanuel Riotte told AFP. He said mothers would have to come in for prenatal check-ups first. "Of course complicated births will have to be redirected to a specialised hospital, as has been done for decades," said the mayor of the town of around 10,000 residents. But some doctors are against the idea. (Bssnews)