English-speaking childbirth courses - Berlin

Me and my wife will get ur first child in mid-Sept and we are trying to find some english speaking courses to learn things both about the german system and how to manage our first child. We have found english speaking midwifes that can run private coruse for us but we would prefer to meet some people in similar situations and learn from others as well.

We will have the delivery at the DRK-Klinik in West End and it seems they are not too used to running english speaking courses.

Appreciate any help!

Hey.

I've just found out that I'm going to be a dad in about eight months time and having the same issue. It's not time to begin them for us yet and we're moving away from Berlin in about five months time, but we're going to need the same thing before we leave.

I'll keep hunting around the internet to see if I can find anything (other than how little I know about pregnancy and all of this!) and I'll post back with anything I find.

Any past experiences would be ace though.

stu ... I think they had their baby already and I hope all went well

and all the best with your little one

Yep

Forgot that it isn't 2007 anymore!

I hope all is well for them too!

Hi Stuart,

The delivery went very well and our little boy is now 10 months (yesterday).

What I found was a course by the http://www.papainstitut.de/ where Eberhard Schäfer delivered a weekend course with one of the Geburtshaus in English. This was very good and I would clearly recomend it. You should be able to reacg Eberhard at eb.schaefer@gmx.de if you want to ask him anything. The course was at the time in the Geburtshaus Charlottenburg, I think that they changed location since.

Be cautios when you move between countries while in the pregnancy etc to ensure that you do not loose all social benefits that you may have collected while in Germany.

Good luck with the pregnancy and the baby!

Per

Thanks for the reply!

The link looks good, I'll have a chat with my better half to see what she thinks.

The social benefits don't really apply to us as we work for a foreign government at an embassy in Berlin.

Cheers,

Stu

Me and my wife will get ur first child in mid-Sept and we are trying to find some english speaking courses to learn things both about the german system,but we want to know some sites providing english speaking course free in internet like http://englishurban.blogspot.com are genuine sites,why they are providing free of cost,

Hi Gurunanak,

We live in Fridrichshain and are having our first baby Nov 7th. Have you found any English birthing classes here in Berlin?

The Geburtshaus Maja in Prenzlauer Berg offers English-language antenatal courses
http://www.geburtshaus-maja.de/deutsch/vor_geburt.php
though it looks like they don't have any scheduled at the moment, it's probably worth a call.

There are also English childbirth preparation classes at the Geburtshaus Charlottenburg:

Geburtshaus Charlottenburg

I just spoke to them on the phone and the have spaces available in June, August and October. Didn't ask about December.

Just a word on the Gebursthaus Charlottenburg. My husband and I did our birth preparation classes there in October 2007. We however attended German speaking classes. We found the midwife to be very vocal in her opposition to hospital births, particularly involving any kind of pain relief. She was critical of those of us who chose hospital births (about half the class). As less important asides, she also mocked my desire to use cloth nappies on our baby and was also skeptical that relatives, particularly grandparents, would be of any help.

Geburtshaus Charlottenburg was one of if not the first birthing center in Berlin and was established as an alternative to the very clinical birthing practices that were being practiced back in the 70s and 80s. In my opinion it attracts a crowd that is very focussed on natural birthing methods. Nothing wrong with that at all but it helps to know that when you attend classes there to have some perspective. Could have just been our luck with that particular midwife but perhaps ask a little about their philosophy when you enquire about classes.

As for how the system here works we hardly covered that in our particular class. We actually spent a lot of time discussing the Mutterpass, the labour itself, did a few relaxation/pain management exercises and we also toured the facilities. It might then be better to find a midwife who could take the time to explain how things work in Berlin on a one on one basis to you and your wife. There are English speaking midwives to be found on Toytown if you do a quick search.

Best wishes for the birth.

Regards,

CM

Hi. I am 5 months pregnant and having the same problem. I live in Prenzlauer berg and cannot find english language birthing classes. The geburtshaus Maja is fantastic and that's where we are planning to give birth.. but their english speaking midwives are too busy with births that they dont have the time to give english birthing classes. So, now I;m back to square one.. I found my Irish midwife.. I found the location for the birth... but now I need to find the English birthing classes... Any ideas anyone?? Preferably not too far away from where I live... Thanks in advance! Sue.

Hi Sue,
My name is Ania (Polish name, born and raised in London)and I have been running mother and baby sessions in Prenzlauerberg in English for 3 years and just recently trying to get a group called First Baby off the ground, it's designed for pregnant women and mums with the youngest of babies - we have had some interest but never really enough to run the class- but if you would like to know more about it then look at http://www.thecenter-berlin.de/english/1/firstbaby.html. It's not a preparation for birth class as such, but we will do some stretching and relaxation exercises that are suitable during pregnancy, and there will be plenty of time for discussion and information sharing. I think the next course is due to start in November. All the best to you! Ania