There are some good resources for doctor recommendations and hospital recommendations in Zürich. I have found the following two threads very helpful. On maternity and birthing experiences and on Natural childbirth and experiences . While these are great resources I am looking specifically for advice or recommendations for freelance midwives in Zürich. For those who don't already have the following links are also helpful: The New Stork Times and this list of midwives from the Midwife Association of Switzerland .
Universitätspital is supposed to be good, but with rotating doctors, one is never certain of English conversation. Although it is true that most doctors here speak English, I can assure you that not all at the Universitätspital do! Delphy's Geburtshaus is also a good option, but again, rotating midwives do not all speak English. Not to mention the need to know who is delivering your baby! For homebirth, I was recommended by Delphy's to try a freelance midwife.
Which leads me back to my original question! I would be keen to find a live actual person recommend or tell stories about their experience with midwives and or homebirth in the Zürich area. Thanks!
Have a look at www.hebamme.ch . Although the site is not in english, by clicking on "freipraktizierende Hebammen", you'll get a list of freelance midwives in your area. If you click on the midwife's name, you'll get all the info about home births and languages spoken.
As for hospitals, there are two that I know of that let certain freelance midwives deliver there : Sanitas hospital in Kilchberg and Paracelsus Spital in Richterswil. You would have to ring them to find out which midwives are accepted, in german they are called "Beleghebammen". I know a midwife in both hospitals and have also given birth in both.
I'm bumping this post up as it's two years old and I'd like to see if anyone can share recent midwife/home birth experiences. I'm finding it really stressful to decide on a hospital and thought it might be better to do a home birth so I can choose the midwife.
I had a homebirth for my third child, but not in Switzerland...you're welcome to PM me to talk about the experience...
Mine was with a 'team' setup where I had a key midwife for all my checkups, a second midwife who was in charge for the homebirth (the most senior staff from the team) and a 'B' team who I met a couple of times beforehand, who would be available in case my 'A' team were attending another birth, or were ill.
looks like www.hebamme.ch is your starting point for an independent midwife.
Personally, I would check out the hospital options as well as the homebirth options - one of the 'keys' that I found to feeling secure about birthing at home, was knowing there was a seamless continuity of care between the home and the hospital - I lived just a two minute drive from the nearest hospital with a maternity unit, so I knew I had a backup plan in case I felt the need to transfer to the hospital...
Hope that helps a bit...I have no major hassles about my hospital experiences, but my homebirth was quite awesome...
Both of mine were home births but the first was in the UK. I had no problem getting a midwife (from a geburtshaus) for the second homebirth here in CH, but she said in no uncertain terms that had it been my first child, it would have been hard to find someone in the Basel area who would have happily agreed to do it - and she would not have taken me on.
As a first step, I would look up the Geburtshaus in your area .. if such a thing had been available when I had my first in the UK, I am sure I would have taken that route rather than going for a first birth at home, but in the end, it turned out very well - so good that I did it a second time!
another piece of useful information, in case you didn't know yet: in some hospitals you can deliver with a "beleghebamme"- a midwife which you can bring for delivery to that hospital. those hospitals usually provide a list of midwives...
is there a reason you would specifically prefer a homebirth? The title says natural childbirth which is entirely possible in a hospital.
I recently delivered in triemli hospital, and was extremely impressed by how natural minded the staff are. They provide everything that you could possibly want for a natural experience including a birthing ball, suspension ropes, even birthing stools and a pool. The midwives on call were extremely supportive, providing helpful advice and coaching for breathing and positioning. I gave birth sitting up on the bed because that was the position i was most comfortable in and the staff was happy to work with me. After the birth, i got to hold the baby right away. The doctor was not rushed to weigh or check the baby, claiming that the mother-baby bonding comes first.
I realize you may have other reasons for choosing a homebirth, but if it is just in interest in having a natural experience, you may be suprised at what the hospital provides.
Yes, very specific reason. It has nothing to do with natural or not actually. =) I'm simply finding the process of choosing a hospital extremely stressful.
I think part of the reason I'm not coping well in general is that I've had severe morning sickness right through my second trimester now.
Whilst I am learning German, the tour at Triemli was in German. I am concerned about language issues when I give birth if I happen to have a midwife and/or doctor who doesn't speak English. My German is okay but not enough that I'm confident to rely on it during such a critical time. I thought that by choosing a midwife and having a home birth, I could alleviate these fears.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll still consider this hospital. In fact, I saw other good reviews earlier, which was why I initially contacted them. Can I ask if you were on basic insurance or supplemental though?
The one thing that impressed me about giving birth in CH was the huge selection of types of births and settings. So much better than the UK. But I can also understand how this choice seems overwhelming, particularly when you are not on top form. But I have been surprised by how many doctors cannot speak English .. not because they should but more because it is something everyone always says .. "they have to a lot of their studies in English so of course they all speak English". That's not been my experience either with finding a gyne or with doctors for my youngest child (who is a frequent outpatient hospital visitor).
At a Geburtshaus, you have an assigned midwife - so I was able to pick one who spoke perfect English (she had practised for 10 years in NZ). A quick ring round the ones in your area would let you find out if there were any midwives practising who speak English. I recall out of 2 Geburtshaus in this area, I found 3 English speaking midwives. Apart from this aspect, the set up in a Geburtshaus sounds very similar to the midwife led care that Pennymama enjoyed at Triemli. There is access to more sophisticated monitoring and one or two other technical things (which I cannot off hand remember) than you would have if you had the birth at home. They have birthing pools too, but I had mine in the bath at home (not planned just happened to be in there at the time ..) .
I could leave it up to actually going into labour before chosing if you stay at home or go into the Geburtshaus itself.
Some of the midwives will also be authorised to be beleghebamme - so they can transfer with you and continuing caring for you if you do need to go into hospital as labour progresses. Even if your midwife is not authorised to work in the hospital you transfer to, she will still come with you for the handover and then can stay simply as your visitor if you request (at least that was what my midwife told me). This way I was sure to keep her proficient English services even if not her midwifery services! I am not so sure how this fits in with health insurance mind you, because I guess the original midwife would need paying for accompanying you in hospital even if she was not directly caring for you.
I can understand the choice of hospital and language issue is worrying you, particularly as you have been feeling so unwell, but the sooner you can get it sorted out, the sooner you can put this concern to bed. Plus if you go down an appointed midwife route, it will be nice having future check up appointments with your appointed midwife (I had most appointments with the midwife but 2 scans and a last appointment around 8 months with my gyne) .. giving you a chance to get to know each other. She usually came to visit me at home, so it was a really pleasant coffee morning type atmosphere with my older child playing near us.
Of course you should chose what works best for you, and i strongly beleive that comfort is of utmost importance during labor, however i don't feel you have more reason to fear a hospital birth over a home birth. There are many risks when having a homebirth, and i don't think its the easy way out. Admittedly i was a bit nervous about triemli because the building strikes me as very cold, but once i was there it was a different story. My midwives for delivery all spoke english besides one who just felt uncomfortable speaking so we agreed she could speak simple german and i would answer in english. My doctor works upstairs and was planning on delivering for me but he had a conference he couldn't miss so i had a doctor on staff deliver me which was perfectly fine -she also spoke english. The anesthisiolgist and her assistant also spoke fluent english. I was on basic insurance, but if i were to upgrade to private and have another baby, i would chose triemli again in a heartbeat. My only issue was the rooming. I wasn't keen on having roommates after birth and using a shared toilet and shower. The nurses upstairs also seemed to have a harder time with english. In retrospect though i should have just requested an early discharge.
If you don't mind me saying this, i don't think the language should be a reason to chose a homebirth. Speak to the hospital in advance and see if you can meet some of the midwifes or as was suggested maybe you would be able to hire a private midwife (or even doula) to accompany you.
Another thing to consider is that English-speaking midwifes are probably stretched as a resource so it is perhaps a risk that they won't allocate one to a single patient doing a home birth and therefore away from a hospital with a number of mums who need someone English speaking on-site.
But you never know - the day my son was born, he was the only birth at the hospital in an 18 hour period. There was a choice of midwifes...
I don't mind you saying this at all and appreciate all your thoughts and input! I will look into a private one who accompanies me at the hospital.
You're right about more risks. I know a number of people who had some close calls with needing an emergency c-section, and I'm about 20 minutes by car from the nearest hospital.
As I have a very definite birth plan in terms of no episiotomy, forceps or ventouse, I'm particularly afraid that these are done against my will because I can't communicate/reiterate my wishes during labor.
I also had no wish of episiotomy or assisted birth but if the doctor had stuck rigidly to my wishes, I wouldn't have my son today if she hadn't moved quickly to get him out when he was stuck.
Giving birth is a very dynamic event - things can change very quickly and sometimes you just have to go with the doctor's advice and be prepared for a different route to a safe outcome.
My episiotomy actually prevented me from tearing badly so I'm quite glad that the doctor stepped in.
I would arrange a visit, it makes a world of difference, when you go there and experience the atmosphere yourself.
Remember, the worst scenario for a birthing house is a birth that has gone wrong, so they take 0%risk births. If they forsee a problem, they immediately arrange that you are transferred to the hospital.
My experience with my second daughter at the birthing house was amazing, it was my first delivery, my first daughter was a breech baby, and I opted for a C-section.
I was also afraid of an episiotomy, and that is the reason why I went to the birthing house. I just could not trust the doctors.
Ok i just realize i was offering unsolicited advice in a potentially heated topic. My doctor provided me with a list of recommended doulas on request. Possibly your doctor would have a similar list.
Your fears of episiotimy are valid, however if i can assure you from my own experience and other mom friends who have given birth here, that the swiss hospitals are extremely anti intervention -more so than other countries it seems, and will do everything possible to avoid intervention. When i checked in, they asked about my birth plan and kept in on file for reference. What i got to see of the triemli staff is that they really try and respectfully tune in to your needs. They are not forceful about anything you aren't comfortable with. As i understand it, even the cesarians are done with the smallest incision possible.
If i could share another small anecdote, (this happened to be also in triemli), my friend was laboring for hours with no progress. The standard procedure is a cesarian in such a case, but rather than give up, the midwives instructed the mom with helpful positioning to lower the baby. Since the mom had an epidural and could not move her lower body, the midwives physically lifted and twisted her, helping the baby descend and avoiding a cesarian or forceps which is pretty acceptable in such a case. This was a mom with no birth plan or special requests. The staff are themselves natural minded enough to do whatever it takes to help you avoid intervention.