Hi Oliya,
Thanks for contacting me about the thread I started :-) Actually since i posted it up on the site my husband and I have been doing a lot of research about the different options in Geneva...so wanted to share them with you!
We did a tour of all the private clinics here - Clinique de Grangettes, Clinique de Beaulieu, Hopital de la Tour and also the University Hospital in Geneva (which isn't private, but you can have a private room there if you want)
I asked a lot of detailed questions and we looked at all of their birthing rooms and then the rooms you stay in afterwards...
Something we found out was that all of the cliniques had a much higher rate of intervention (ie. use of epidurals, induction and also ceserean section compared with the university hospital) The facilities in all the cliniques were pretty much the same - they had a birthing room where you had to give birth and then you would stay there up to 2 hours after you have given birth and then you would be moved to your private or semi private room afterwards.
The birthing rooms didnt have much in them other than a bed- where they expect you to lie on to give birth. I asked about other natural options but they weren't very optimistic as they said it depended on what your doctor was open to or not. ie. whether your doctor would let you kneel or squat or do whatever while giving birth -but they said mostly not. The clinique beaulieu did have one birthing room that had a big tub but the midwife who did the tour for us said it had only ever been used for the actual birth by one doctor who was very progressive - otherwise all the other doctors will let you sit in it or something maybe while you are going through labour but expect you to be on the table for the actual pushing and delivery. (Something i totally don't agree with - its only for the convenience of the doctor! it actually makes contractions more painful and can put pressure on your back etc...and can lead to more tearing...but anyway...)
The clinique de Grangettes had an alternative birthing room that had a special swing/seat kind of thing that you could sit in in order to give birth - i sat in it and it was quite comfy, but looked a little awkward and not sure if you would feel like that towards the end...but again, that room would only be available on a first come first serve basis...so not sure if it would be available then...
I asked about their policies on eating and drinking and all the cliniques had the same policy that they don't allow you to eat or drink once you have been admitted - and they insert a drip needle straight away as well (without anything attached to it at first) just in case they have to perform an emergency c section or something...but to be honest i think that sucks the most and is one of the main things that turned me off those cliniques...mostly becuase if you go into early labour and you go there fairly early...you will be so hungry and thirsty that that alone will make you weak and exhausted...so much so that you would probably be a lot more likely to end up needing or getting an epidural or having some kind of intervention....
Also, if you were staying home as long as possible before going into hospital/clinique you would be allowed to eat and drink naturally...so would have stuff in your stomach anyway...and that never stops them from performing emergency c-sections...so the logic doesn't quite fit in their reasoning for not letting you eat or drink.
A really good book to read if you want to be informed of a lot of really really good research and information about all the different procedures and common practices that surround labour and birth is called:
"The Thinking Woman's Guide To a Better Birth" by Henci Goer and its brilliant cause it gives you all the pros and cons of all the different procedures and background history on how and why certain things were started etc... very informative and not one sided.
Anyway, The cliniques also work in the sense that the midwife will stay with you throughout the birthing process but when she sees you are getting closer she will call the obstetrician who will then come in and deliver the baby. (I think this is possibly partly why their rate of intervention is a lot higher and their episiotomy, epidural and c-sections are more often performed - becuase at the end the obstetrician comes in and does not know the whole process, but just has the perspective of speeding up the process and getting that baby out...obviously not all obstretitians are like that, but i am generalizing obviously)
Anyway, the cliniques did have nicer bigger birthing rooms in general than the hospital, but the downside was that once you are moved to your private room, anytime you want to change the baby or give it a bath or anything, you have to take it down with you to the nursery, which isnt always just near your room.
You can however keep the baby in your room with you all the time if you want, and even during the night...the midwives will only take it to the nursery if you want them to to give you a break. They all do encourage breastfeeding so at least thats good. They will bring the baby back to you each time it needs feeding and they don't feed it bottles or anything. The general length of stay at a clinique after birth is about 4 - 6 days (depending on what intervention you have had, if you have a C-section its definately at least 6) At the hospital you can go home generally after 24 hours if you want, or you can stay longer as well.
Umm...lets see what else do you need to know...oh yeah, the University hospital seemed by far the best option in terms of if you had to give birth in a hospital, just for the simple reason that the midwives are the ones who give birth to the babies and their rates of intervention and stuff are much lower. Although you are still in a hospital setting and there is no tub or anything there, if you had to go somewhere for whatever reason, that would be the place. They do have a little stool called the Mayan stool which you can give birth on if you want to, it allows you to give birth in a sort of sitting/sqwatting position which looked like it could also be good, depending on how much strength you had at that point to sit on it, being supported of course by your husband or a midwife...
(The hospital is where I have chosen to go if something unexpected happens and i have to have intervention of some kind, although i certainly don't want it and am not hoping for it - but have to be realistic and have the backup plan established of course) ;-)
The other option instead of having a clinic or hospital birth is to do a home birth assisted by an independent midwife. (We have decided to go for this option - after all our research etc...)
There is a Midwife Office in Geneva where all the independent midwives work from. You can be followed by a midwife for prenatal and postnatal care and also have her be the one to deliver your baby at home if you like. If you have a normal or good insurance policy it should cover this, as they are generally all registered etc and you can claim back on your insurance if you have a midwife attended birth.
We met with a midwife called Veronique who speaks English and French and who is very experienced, she has given birth to over 90 home birth babies in Geneva and she seemed very down to earth and natural -really put me at ease with the whole process and actually for the first time since doing the tour and checking out the hospitals i began to look forward to the birth experience again. She said what happens is you meet with the midwife normally once a month leading up to the birth and then several times before hand if you need to...depending on the situation, and then when you go into labor you just call her and then she will come when you are ready for her, and she stays with you right the way through, respecting your needs, wishes etc...and helping you through the process and then towards the end when she sees you are getting close she calls the second midwife to come and then there are two midwives to attend the actual birth. Then they stay with you for at least 2 hours afterwards and do cleanup etc...and then your midwife will come and check on you at least once per day after the birth, and also help you with the breastfeeding.
This is the website for the Midwife center - unfortunately its only in french... http://www.arcade-sages-femmes.ch/
There is a small birthing house out in Nyon - a town close to Geneva, but its not covered by insurance and it is a bit more difficult to book etc...I went and checked it out but it didn't look like a very feasible option and also was smaller and a bit more complicated (had upstairs and downstairs and seemed quite pokey) than our apartment, so I just decided to stay at home.
I would highly recommend the midwives at the Midwives office, i think just from being there and talking to them they are very experienced and very much into the whole natural thing...they are very patient and will generally let the process take its natural course...they will only intervene and say you need to go to the hospital or clinic if they know that something is wrong or you are not progressing normally at all or they see complications...so in that sense home birth is really great because Geneva is so small you have the security of still knowing you could be in a clinic or hospital within 10 minutes if you needed to be.
Anyway...I am probably overloading you with information right now, but there is certainly a lot to figure out...
You would have to find out for sure if you would be covered by insurance for giving birth at home with a midwife, and also whether or not the midwife would be willing to do a home birth with you if you are only going to be arriving in February. If you like I could talk to my midwife and ask her if that is even possible...just let me know, I would be happy to make some calls for you and find out whatever information I could to help you out.
Also, you would need to find a good obstetrician and pediatrician here once you arrive - I can recommend my one very much - Yvan Lagnaux - he was recommended to me because he is very known for being non-invasive and natural in his approach - (he is the doctor that I was told about at the Clinique de Grangette who had performed the only water birth in their tub) and his wife is a pediatrician who works in the same office, so that makes it really easy for appointments ;-)
I'm not sure how natural they do things in Japan - i guess that is something you will have to weigh up in making your decision whether to come here to give birth or just stay there longer to give birth. Hope its not too stressful for you to figure out which option to go for!
I am definitely available though if you have any other questions about stuff related to Geneva or anything...I am not working now, but am home studying part time, so I have a bit of time on my hands normally and could check into things for you if you need a hand on this end.