Will a midwife visit my home after the birth? - Germany

Hello!

My husband and I are expecting our first child in January. I'm from the UK where most things medical are assigned to you pretty automatically due to the NHS. I was wondering whether that was the same here in Germany.

As far as I know, it's normal to have a few home visits after you have given birth, from a midwife. Is this a service happens automatically here, or do I need to register / pick a midwife to come and do this?

Also, how many visits would this consist of, and what is the German name for this?

I'd be grateful for any help

Yes she will come but it is advisable to got to your hospital as soon as possible to get more info on programs concerning what to expect etc. Most groups will have english speaking midwives so there should be no language barrier. Also the word for midwife is Hebame.

Also the visits will depend on you and your midwife. I have seen midwives go as much as 8 times to a house. Yet remember your insurance will have to pay for these visits. good luck!

Edit: Yes I am a bloke but my wife is a hebame.

You have to find one yourself, she will visit you multiple times before the delivery and then she will come again after. Ask your gynecologist, she will give a list of the ones working in your area.

The clinic you choose for the birth might also have a list of "preferred" midwives.

This is very important. Make sure the midwife you choose is a "Beleghebamme" (you lost an M, perdido) - at your clinic. This means she runs the show at your birth - not the doctor or a different midwife whom you've never met before.

To have your personal midwife at your birth, you have to pay extra. I think I was quoted about 300 Euros, but my midwife had too many clients and couldn't commit to my birth, so I skipped the extra cost. I had the staff midwives at the hospital, and they were all great, so I don't really see the need to pay extra to have your midwife there, but that's just my opinion My German was (is) horrible, but I didn't have any language problems, as all of the doctors speak english, so if there's a problem they'll explain it to you.

To find a midwife, you can also look up in the free kids/baby magazines that are available at Apothekes or in your Frauenarztin's office. The "KidsGo" magazine that is in this area (not sure if it's nationwide) has a list of midwives and the languages that they speak so you can find an english speaking hebame.

Good luck!

Thank-you for all your replies! That's a lot clearer now

All the best!

If the hospital midwives are all booked up you can find a community midwife for post natal visits. Look in the phone directory for Hebamme. They are extremely helpful and will continue to visit until there is no longer any need to.

If the hospital midwives are all booked up you can find a community midwife for post natal visits. Look in the phone directory for Hebamme. They are extremely helpful and will continue to visit until there is no longer any need to.

Absolutely of no importance whatsoever, IMHO. The midwife I had at my daughter's birth was a complete stranger and very competent and supportive. (My own doctor also kindly showed up at the very end, even though he was technically on vacation.) I never saw the attending midwife again after the birth. My impression was that it is relatively unusual to have a specifically requested midwife attending a birth at a normal clinic.

I should also note that I chose a community midwife from a local baby magazine for my home visits. I didn't know the clinic would have its own list until I was discharged.

I guess this is different from woman to woman. In our case the delivery took too long (22 hours) and it would be nice to have our own midwife because my wife already had built a relationship with her. When the delivery takes long the midwives change shifts and you get again a new one who again does not know you situation. Repeating this 4 times was not nice.

For the next kid (if we have one) I will make sure we get a midwife who will be there for the delivery as well.

It will be interesting to see how or if anything changes now that the law requires a "chef" midwife at hospitals.

I don't think a midwife would be allowed to work for 22 hours without a break.

Just to save a bit of confusion I think you are referring to health visitors, not midwives. Midwives deal with the birth.