Births under midwife supervision only - no doctor

My sister-in-law recently had a baby (in Quebec) and she pretty much only dealt with a midwife. The only time she saw a doctor was for the 3-month ultrasound. She had monthly, bi-weekly, then weekly appointments with her midwife and gave birth at the same birthing center where her appointments had been. Does anyone know if this option is also possible in Germany? Or does the birth have to take place at a hospital under the supervision of a doctor?

Jackie

Yes it is possible here. Both of my kids were born at home in the bedroom with just a midwife to help us.

it does not just have to take place in the hospital, a hebamme (mid-wife) can also deliver the baby and generally they are the ones that do anyways even in hospitals. the doc's just come in the very last minute and sometimes when its too late anyways.

however, it all depends on the pregnancy itself, if its risk-free or rather a low risk pregnancy then you could go for the hebamme option but was i lucky to have delivered at the hospital.

throughout my pregnancy i was classified as low risk and in fact baby was so well positioned that it would be one of those perfect deliveries i was told, however, after 21 hours in labour and with three doc's on my stomach and with 2 hebamme, so you can imagine we had a party in there, but i did deliver a healthy baby girl.

so moral of the story...deliver in the hospital as you just never know...

I'm sure I've posted this before, but my daughter had a normal birth without anesthesia and was delivered by a midwife, in the clinic. My doctor was called and came in for the last 30 minutes or so, but he literally sat in a chair by the side until the midwife asked for his help. Then he did the stitching up.

I should add that a lot of people, for some reason, seem to think they will have a better experience with a midwife, whom they assume will be caring and understanding, instead of a doctor, assumed to be clinical and cold. Might I suggest that midwives are just as likely to be unfriendly as doctors, and vice versa.

sleepless - is this option covered by insurance? If so, do you know if it matters if you have public/private insurance? Did you have the choice of giving birth either at home or at some kind of birth center? If I have kids, I'd rather not give birth in a hospital, so I'm curious as to the alternatives available.

Thanks!
Jackie

The people who will best be able to inform you of the options you have for your pregnancy will be your Frauenarzt and your midwife. There are many, many options available in Germany, but depending on your situation, they may not all be available to you specifically.

there is one "Geburtshaus" in Munich where you can deliver under the supervision of midwifes only, in a more comfortable enviroment than in a hospital and (if no complications) without doctor involved. In case you have to be transferred to a hospital they have emergency equipment and the Rotkreuzkrankenhaus ist just next door and cooperates with them. I don't think the use Geburtshaus it's covered by public insurance, they mentioned 380 € / birth on their website.

Jackie, yes as far as I know it was covered by the insurance. I doubt that it would make a difference as to whether it is private or public but can't say for certain and yes we had a choice on the matter and went with the home birth. We wouldn't have been allowed to do it if there had been any problems or complications along the way but in the end it turned out great.